AN: Just wanted to take the time to thank those who took the time to write reviews. They are much appreciated and I'm doing some rewriting in the next chapters to put in more of the undercover stuff on the base which I was originally going to skip most of. Hope you enjoy this chapter!
While Morgan, Rossi, Prentiss and JJ headed for one of the black SUV's, Hotch walked with Reid to the second one. While the others headed for the base, Reid would head for the hotel and check the group in.
"We'll be in touch with you throughout the afternoon. Keep you informed of what we find," Hotch told the younger agent as they walked. "I'll also talk to Major Morgan about getting you access to the base computer network from the hotel. Meanwhile, help Garcia search the records that are public record."
Reid nodded. The team was convinced that their unsub was targeting people with a certain physical reason for a specific reason. Something had happen in the guy's personal life to set him off and have a vendetta against people with brown eyes, brown hair and slight build. The question was what that stressor had been.
"Reid, I don't want you feeling pressured into going through with Rossi's suggestion. All you have to do is say the word and I'll pull the plug on this whole idea."
"No one else on the team would refuse."
"You don't know that," Hotch said, though deep down he knew Reid was right. From the look that Reid gave him, he knew his words weren't convincing either. "I'll talk to Major Morgan about the details and then we'll discuss this again. A long discussion. If you do this, you can't go into this with any doubts."
"There's always a chance we catch this guy within the next two days and this whole idea will be moot."
Hotch rested his hand on the kid's shoulder briefly. Somehow he didn't think that was likely to happen. Reid climbed behind the driver's seat of the SUV and Hotch pushed the door shut. He took a couple of steps back from the vehicle as Reid started it up. Hotch watched Reid drive away and then headed for the other SUV.
Morgan was behind the wheel, as Hotch climbed into the passenger seat. Rossi, Prentiss and JJ were in the back.
"Did you get a hold of her?"
"Yeah," Morgan replied in response to Hotch's question. "Becky will meet us at the gate."
Hotch nodded. The drive from the airport to the army base was quiet. At the gate, the guard asked to see everyone's id. As he handed them back to Morgan, the guard pointed to a jeep parked not far away. "Major Morgan is waiting for you over there."
"Thank-you."
As the gate opened, Morgan drove the SUV onto the base. He parked it next to the Jeep and the BAU agents got out of the vehicle. Morgan gave his sister a quick hug as they met at the front of the two vehicles. He then turned to his fellow agents.
"I'd like you to met Unit Chief Agent Hotchner, and agents Rossi, Prentiss and Jareau," Morgan said pointing to each of them in turn.
"Pleased to meet you, Major Morgan," Hotch said, holding out his hand.
"Likewise. It's nice to be able to put faces with the names. I wish the circumstances were different though," Major Morgan said, shaking hands with Hotch. "This is Lieutenant Marley," she said, indicating the officer standing behind her. "He's the one who noticed the cut rope yesterday and has been assisting me with the case."
Lieutenant Marley stepped forward to shake hands with Hotch and then took a step back again.
"Just let me know how you want to proceed Agent Hotchner, and I'll give you any help I can," Major Morgan said after introductions were out of the way.
"Agents Rossi and Morgan were going to start by taking a look at the previous crime scenes, starting with the rope obstacle. We realize the site of the car accident, gas chamber and rappelling site aren't still roped off but it would be helpful for us to see the area. Agent Prentiss and I would like to start by checking out the barracks from this morning incident. Agent Jareau is our Media Liaison. If its possible, I'd like for her to meet with Colonel Jackson about making a press release about our presence here. There has already been a leak to the public so right now we need to calm fears. Let people know that action is being taken to resolve the situation."
Major Morgan nodded. "So far, the incident this morning and the two at the obstacle course are the only three being connected. The previous three incidents were of course reported when they happened but no one seems to be making a connection to them yet."
"That's why I'd like to talk to Colonel Jackson and run everything I plan on releasing past him before I meet with the media. We won't release any information that he doesn't want us to."
Major Morgan nodded. "Then why don't we split up. Lieutenant Marley can take your agents out to the various locations of the incidents and the rest of us will head to the MP headquarters and meet with Colonel Jackson. Afterward I can take you out to the barracks, sir."
"Sounds like a plan," Hotch replied. He turned to Morgan and Rossi. "Stay in touch. We'll use this afternoon as reconnaissance time and then meet at the hotel this evening to discuss where we go next."
"You got it," Morgan said. Beside him Rossi nodded.
"Why don't you take shotgun, Lieutenant," Rossi suggested to Marley, figuring the guy would be better able to give Morgan directions from the front seat.
"Yes, sir," Marley replied.
As the three of them got into the SUV, the others headed for the jeep. Major Morgan got behind the wheel, with Hotch in the passenger's seat beside her. The two other women got into the back.
"We've got another agent in town with us. He's at the hotel right now. If we place an agent undercover, he'll be the one to do it."
"Dr. Reid?" Major Morgan guessed.
"Yeah," Hotch said. "I have a feeling your brother has told you a whole lot more about us then we've heard about you."
"Derek's a private person. That doesn't surprise me," she replied. "How were you thinking of putting him undercover?"
"Reid can easily pass for a college student so I want to look into bringing him on base with the next set of cadets to come through if it becomes necessary. There's no guarantee we're going to use this method to lure the UNSUB but to keep the option open then we'll need to start making plans."
"I've already started looking into it. I've found a small school in the mid-west that has an ROTC program. They have cadets scheduled to come in the last flight but we could say your agent is from that school and no one currently here on base would be able to prove otherwise. I also think the less people who know who your agent really is, the better. Limit that knowledge to select MP's and one of the drill sergeants in charge of the platoon."
"I'd like names of anyone you plan on bringing in on this this so we can run our own background checks on them," Hotch replied.
"Understood."
"Also, is there a way to get him access to the base's computer data from off base. It'll allow him to be doing something constructive over the next few days."
"I'll need to get approval from Colonel Jackson, but it would be easy enough to put software on a laptop for him so he can access the network here by remote and set up a user-name and password for him."
"How soon?"
"I've got to stay on base until five, when Major Resendes comes on duty after that I could head over to where your staying."
Hotch nodded. "I'd like you to leave with your brother. Let people think your leaving base to catch up with him and not helping us out."
"Not a problem."
"You know setting a trap for someone you're trying to catch is not an unusual tactic for any law enforcement group to take," Rossi commented as he and Morgan followed Lieutenant Marley back to their car from their visit to the firing range that Mitchell's accident with the gun had occurred at.
"I know that. What are you getting at?"
"You called my idea of having Reid go in undercover crazy. Care to explain?"
"It's nothing."
"I'm not buying that. JJ and Prentiss were awfully quick to back you up and though he didn't come out and directly say it, Hotch seems to have the same doubts as you do, and it wouldn't take a profiler to see that Reid is none to keen on the idea. What am I missing?"
Rossi was quiet, waiting for the other agent to answer his question. Morgan just shook his head and continued walking though. Rossi reached out, and grabbed Morgan's arm. "Hold up a minute," he told Morgan even as Morgan shook his hand off of him. Rossi looked in the direction of the army soldier ahead of them. "Give us a minute, Lieutenant We'll meet you at the vehicle."
"Yes, sir," Lt. Marley replied, turning and continuing on his way.
"Is Reid right? Do you think he can't handle an undercover assignment?"
"No. I just don't want to put Reid in unnecessary danger," Morgan told him.
"And you think I do? We'll take every precaution we can. If there is any sign of danger we pull the plug on it."
"And if something goes wrong?" Morgan asked. "Look, I know we're in danger every time we're out in the field while we're doing this job. We're all aware of it. We've all accepted that danger. However, there is a difference between dealing with that potential threat and watching one of your co-workers being tortured on camera and not being able to do anything about it."
"Reid?"
Morgan nodded. There were nights that those images still haunted his dreams."It happened last year. JJ and Reid were checking out a possible suspect's house. They split up and Reid was captured. His captor broadcasted Reid being tortured over the internet. It took us two days to locate him. Hell, Garcia and Gideon watched him die and be brought back to life," Morgan said, secretly glad that he hadn't been there for that while at the same time knowing he would have taken her place to spare Garcia from that. "He went through a rough time after that. We all did and I guess that maybe I'm a little more protective of him than any of the rest of the team. So the suggestion that we set him up as bait for a killer, sorry if that doesn't sit well with me."
Rossi didn't say anything in the silence that followed. He wasn't sure what to say. Wasn't sure if their was anything he could say. The ringing of Morgan's cell phone broke the awkward moment.
"Morgan. Go ahead."
"Morgan, where are you and Rossi?"
"We're leaving the firing range. Lieutenant Marley is about to show us where the car accident took place. It's the last site."
"Okay, Prentiss and I will meet you guys out there. JJ is about ready to hold her press conference and we're done talking to the other members of Magunsen and Warden's squad and the cadre for the platoon. I want you to head over to the hotel with your sister so she can get Reid's laptop set up to access the base's network. I'd prefer as few people as possible knowing we have another agent in the area. Anyone asks, she's leaving the base so the two of you can catch up. It's not related to our investigation."
"Understood," Morgan replied.
"There are still quite a few names," Reid commented, as he looked at the list Garcia had sent him of all the personnel posted to the base from the time of the first incident until present. She had separated the civilians from the military personnel as the preliminary profile told them their UNSUB was military. They had then divided the list into male and female personnel. Though statistics leaned toward the UNSUB being male, Reid had to admit that Prentiss' jealous lover theory held some merit. If a woman had been jilted in a former relationship by a male fitting the description of the victims, then she could be trying to strike back. It could also explain why the attacks were all indirect, the UNSUB might not have the ability to overpower their victims. "Knowing when people had leaves could possibly get rid of more of the names."
"You're right, Sweet Cheeks, but I don't have access to those records. Of course if you'd like me to access . . ."
"Hold off on that, Garcia," Reid said, interrupting the tech, knowing exactly where she was going. "We can probably get access to that information legally. We don't want the army kicking us off the case because you're hacking their network."
"Spoiled sport," Garcia said in a teasing tone.
There was a knock on the hotel room door. "Hey Garcia, I'll talk to you later. I think Morgan is here."
"Okay. I'll start seeing what I can dig up on the list of cadre that Hotch provided. Just give me a ring if I can do anything for you. Bye"
Reid flipped his cell shut and got to his feet. A quick glance through the peep hole told him that it was indeed Morgan out in the hall. Reid undid the dead bolt and opened the hotel door.
"So, do you have everyone's key or just mine?" Morgan asked, as he stepped into the room. Rebecca Morgan followed him in, shutting the door behind her.
"Ah, just yours. The other keys are at the desk for them to pick up."
"Don't trust me, Kid?"
"No," Reid answered, grabbing the second key card to the room he was going to be sharing with Morgan, off of the desk. He handed it to him. "Guess I just wanted to make sure you were the one that got it."
Morgan was watching his friend's face. He noticed the fear there and immediately felt bad about giving the younger agent a hard time. Feeling that it would be best not to draw anymore attention to the situation, Morgan changed gears.
"Reid, I'd like you to meet my sister, Major Rebecca Morgan. Becky this is Dr. Spencer Reid."
"A pleasure to meet you, Dr. Reid," Rebecca said, holding out a hand.
"Likewise, though you don't need to call me Dr. Reid. Just Reid is fine or Spencer if you want to use my first name, Major Morgan" Reid told her, quickly shaking her hand.
"Becky is fine."
Reid nodded."I'm glad to see you're back safely from your tour in Iraq," he commented, awkwardly stuffing his hands in his pockets.
"Oh, so Derek does talk about me to at least one of his co-workers."
"Ah, two of us actually."
"Let me guess, the computer tech, Penelope."
"Yeah. How did you know?" Reid asked.
"Educated guess. You and Penelope are the two Derek talk about the most. Not to mention she's the only one I haven't met."
"I'm almost afraid to know what he's told you about me," Reid commented, looking from Rebecca to his co-worker.
"Nothing you need to worry about," Rebecca reassured him. "Derek actually has quite a high opinion of you," she added.
"Oh, really," Reid commented, thinking of all the times the older agent had given him a hard time about things. He was pretty sure most of the comments had been in jest and he knew he could always count on Morgan if he ever needed help. Still, it was nice to know Morgan didn't just think of him as the kid on the team that he had to protect.
"Ah, weren't you here to do a job?" Derek asked, looking at his sister. He definitely didn't like the direction this conversation was going in.
"Yes, sir," Rebecca told her brother,a joking tone to her voice and mischievous smile on her face.
"You know the army and the FBI are two separate organizations and their ranks are not comparable. Therefore, you are under no obligation to refer to Morgan, or any of us for that matter, as sir," Reid commented.
Brother and sister looked at each other, both trying hard not to laugh. Apparently the joke had gone completely over the genius' head.
"Why don't we get this software on your computer and get you logged into the base's network," Rebecca said.
Reid gestured to the laptop he had opened and running on the room's table. Rebecca walked over and sat down in the chair. She put the disk into the computer and started loaded up the software. She was aware of Reid standing behind her looking over her shoulder. Having gotten use to crowding around maps and other documents while overseas, it didn't bother her.
"So did you guys find anything new out this afternoon?" Reid asked, glancing over at Morgan who had taken a seat on the bed closest to the table.