Piece of Mind (Criminal Minds FF)

6. Damion Taylor

The Detective

"Get your vests on. We're going to Taylor's house," Hotch orders. "Everyone to the cars. Inform the sheriff." I walk up to him.

"Do you have an extra vest? Oh, never mind. I bet the sheriff has one," I say, my mind spinning.

I wasn't used to these types of things: going out in the field. I am a detective; we don't do much except observe crime scenes and use clues to help catch criminals. Not go out and handcuff criminals.

I begin to walk towards one of the officers when a hand on my shoulder stops me. I turn to see Hotch looking at me sternly.

"You're not going with us," he states. I raise an eyebrow.

"Of course, I am," I say. "I'm not staying behind while you go and rescue Jacob." I cross my arms across my chest. I was stubborn, and I knew it.

"No, you're not. You are a civilian. You're staying here or at your house." I roll my eyes.

"I am not a civilian; I am a detective. You came to me because you needed someone inside of this close community. You go in there, guns blazing, and you'll freak him out," I say. "I know Damion. He's..." I trail off, trying to find the words. "He isn't someone I expected. I know him personally. You don't. Face it. You need me."

He looks at me with an emotionless expression.

"There is an extra vest in the supply room here. Get one. You have a firearms permit, right?" I nod quickly, trying not to smile. "Here. We don't have time for you to grab your own." He grabs a gun from around his ankle and hands it to me. "You stay with me or around Morgan at all times. I tell you to do something, do it. Do you understand?"

"Got it, sir!" I say, probably a little too enthusiastically by the way he looks at me.

I quickly go to the closet and grab a vest before finding Morgan. I place the gun on my holster.

"Morgan!" I catch him before he heads outside. "Hotch said I had to stick with you or him, and you were more preferable. You smile, at least." Morgan raises an eyebrow.

"Hotch is letting you come?" he asks. I nod.

"If you don't believe me, ask him. We need to get going, though."

He looks at me for a moment before shrugging and gesturing to me to walk with him. We go outside and head straight for the cars.

"Claire?" Ugh. I picked the wrong car.

"Reid," I say stiffly.

Morgan climbs in the driver seat while JJ climbs the passenger seat. Morgan instantly notices the tension. I sit in my seat, muscles refusing to relax. Everything in me went tense with him around.

"What are you doing here?" he asks. Seconds later, he turns to Morgan, knowing he wasn't going to get an answer from Mr. As we pull out into the street, I see Morgan glance at me through the rearview mirror.

"Hotch is letting her. He told her to stick with me or him," he says, flipping the siren on. "Don't know how, but here we are. Now, we need to focus. You think you two can do that?" I roll my eyes and nod.

The rest of the car is mostly in silence; I'm giving Morgan directions quiver than Garcia could. He lived on the other side of the town, almost outside of it. I never really noticed how far out he lived, but now I do... and now I know why. I frown when I see his house come into view.

"I've been over here a few times for dinner. I never even knew..." JJ looks at me with surprise.

"You dated this guy?" she asks. I frown.