Selcouth | Criminal Minds | Spencer Reid

Chapter 2

"You Were Right Here All Along"
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I SCRIBBLE furiously in my notebook, attempting to create a cipher for the encoded note found at both crime scenes.

With our ETA hovering at around half an hour to North Carolina, the distraction is welcome.

"God, this is confusing!" I groan, falling back into my seat audibly.

Spencer perks up from across the table and questions with a tiny grin playing on his lips, "Let me guess, you need coffee?"

"Yes!" I laugh, launching myself up and strolling towards the coffee pot.

The warm, chocolate colored liquid flows easily into my cup, steam rising to hit my face.

It gives me a jolt as I sip it on my way back to the table.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say I was 99% caffeine!" I chuckle as I slide back into the seat, gazing at my now meaningless scribbles.

"I would stop after this cup Nat, it's your fifth and you've definitely exceeded you caffeine intake for the day," Spencer grins, peering up from his file.

"I went to school for this Spence, the worst I can do is induce cardiac arrest," I deadpan, taking a long sip from the cup.

[SUFFIX, NORTH CAROLINA]

"Hello, you must be the FBI agents they were sending, but I was expecting more than two," The large, burly man they call Chief Harrison rushes, his eyes flicking between me and Spence.

I know exactly what he's thinking, but I keep my mouth shut. I know he's sizing Spence up as being a nerd and me as eye candy, judging from his lingering eyes.

"Yes, the rest of the team is either at the M.E's office or at the crime scene, do you have a spot where we can set up?" I question dryly, examining the room and its occupants.

"Oh, yes, I'll ask Jillian to help you out setting up," He replies, beckoning to a petite woman with auburn curls across the room.

"Yes chief?" She spits out gruffly, eyeing Spencer and I.

"Can you help these agents set up whatever they need in the meeting room?" Chief Harrison questions somewhat softly for a man of his stature and position.

I can feel my eyebrows lift sky high when Jillian rolls her eyes dramatically before agreeing to the task.

We trail behind her to the meeting room, Spencer and I exchanging confused expressions the whole way.

"We have a secure network you can work off and if you need coffee, there's a pot brewing next door," Jillian smiles genuinely, pushing back a stray lock of hair.

"I'm assuming you don't like the chief?" I question as I clear a space for us to work and drop the box of files onto the middle of the table.

"I'm counting down the days to his retirement, if that's what you mean," Jillian chuckles wryly.

"227 days," Spencer murmurs absentmindedly, not registering the awestruck look on Jillian's face.

"How did you know that?" Jillian questions.

"He's Spencer, he could tell you what highway in China had the most traffic on a Wednesday afternoon," I laugh as I pull out the notes I made earlier on the cipher.

"That would be the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macau Expressway, but you already knew that," Spencer whispers knowingly with a grin after Jillian leaves the room.

"Yep," I reply, popping the p.

At that moment, the door flies open, revealing a very angry and  scared Morgan.

"Morgan, what's wrong?" Spencer questions.

"We were at Angela Reynold's house and a bomb went off, two officers are dead," Morgan groans, pacing the room.

"Where's Rossi?" I blurt, my heart jumping in my chest when I notice the man I consider like a father is absent from the chaos.

"I thought he was here, he said he was going to meet me back here a couple minutes before the bomb went off!" Morgan exclaims, his eyes widening.

With trembling fingers, I yank out my cellphone and tap Rossi's contact, silently begging him to pick up.

"SSA David Rossi," Rossi greets and I let out a breath that I didn't know I had been holding in.

"God Rossi, you scared us!" I scream into the phone in relief.

"I know, but I just heard and I'm on my way in now," Rossi's voice floods my ear.

With that he hangs up and the door flies open once again, this time to reveal Rossi.

"Don't do that again Rossi!" I cry out, wrapping him in a hug.

"I won't, promise," He murmurs before pulling away.

"Ok, so what do we know about this unsub?" Morgan questions, massaging his temple as if to ward against a killer headache.

"We know he's a narcissist, he wants the upperhand in this whole thing and currently he feels as if he's achieving that," I reply, examining the crime scene photos again.

"That is, until we arrived, now he feels as if he's lost control and he's trying to regain that through whatever means necessary..." Morgan trails off at this, as if lost in thought.

"If the bomb was the work of our unsub, that could mean he's devolving and he may kill again soon," Spencer finishes.

"I think it's time for you to work some magic Nat and decode those notes," Morgan addresses me.