𝓼𝓪𝓯𝓮 ➣ 𝓼. 𝓻𝓮𝓲𝓭

𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓻𝓽𝔂-𝓽𝔀𝓸

"The answers in the visitor logs, maybe even in the online forums that he visits." Mara spoke into the phone.

"Garcia already looked through both, no one stuck out." Hotch replied.

"Of course not, it's a riddle for him," Mara spoke, thinking out loud. "It would be a name that would have meaning to Paul and us."

"Us?"

"He'd knew we'd take the case, find his partner." Reid spoke through the phone.

"Two of the same names weren't used on both, let's focus on the letters," Mara said. "He'd use something that would hurt us. Two different names."

The team thought before Reid spoke us. "Try Alex Tate and Spencer Reid."

Mara furrowed her eyebrows as Hotch spoke us. "Makes sense. Fox couldn't kill her. She's the object of his affection but also the one thing he hates most. It makes sense that he would use names that gave him pleasure."

"I got an address." Garcia spoke on the other side.

Hotch read the address on his phone. "JJ, you two are closer. Wait for SWAT."

"He's not going to be there, whoever he is, he's found his next victim." Mara said as JJ followed the address programmed into the GPS, turning onto a side street.

SWAT got there right when Mara and JJ were done strapping on their bulletproof vests and pulling their guns from their holsters. They stormed the place and just like Mara thought, no one was home.

"James Burns," Garcia spoke through the phone. "Studied to become a Investigative Journalist but dropped out last year."

"Let me guess, the same time Fox got arrested." Mara rolled her eyes.

"Bingo," she replied. "Logged under Alex Tate and Spencer Reid a total of thirty-four times. Wrote seventeen letters."

"He thought he could establish a real connection by killing the same way he did," Mara mumbled, JJ and Garcia both listening. "Why not target people close to him? His family? Me?"

JJ shook her head. "He needed to establish his own way of killing to prove himself. But killing the way Fox wasn't sufficient enough for him. He's disorganized. Adrenaline junkie."

"You're right," Mara said. "That means that he's going to make another mistake."

"That mistake just happened," Garcia said. "A family four blocks away just made a 911 call five minutes ago."

They moved towards the door. "Just like we thought. He can't overpower the parents."

They ran out to the trucks and drove to where the nine one-one was made from, SWAT following them. Hotch and the rest of the team arrived a couple minutes later, trying to create a plan that saves the family.

Hotch took the megaphone out and started trying to negotiate with Burns. 

Twenty minutes later, Burns hadn't said anything. He wouldn't answer the phones or reply to anything Hotch said. They knew that if they sent in SWAT they were putting all the hostages at stake.

Mara stepped forward. "Let me try."

Hotch nodded and handed her the megaphone, leaning close to her. "Make it personal."

Mara held the megaphone close to her mouth, took a deep breath, and pressed the button. "James? My name is Mara Tate, you know who I am. I'm going to try calling, please pick up."

Mara held the phone up to her ear and listened to it ring five times before he picked up. "What do you want?"

"We just want to ensure the safety of that family."

"I need to show him, I need to show him what I can do-"

"James, don't hurt them," Mara spoke gently. "Just come out and we can show Paul what you can really do."

"No, no, I have to finish, I have-" he stopped suddenly, taking a deep breath. "You come in. You come in and talk to me. I'll come out."

"James, I can't do that," Mara shook her head. "I can't come in-"

"You come in or I kill this entire family just like Paul killed yours!" he snapped, his voice not shaking anymore. Firm and assertive. "No gun. No partner. No vest. Just you."

He hung up and Mara turned to Hotch, raising her eyebrows. Hotch shook his head. "You can't go in there. Much less unarmed."

"Hotch, I have to," she replied, taking off her vest. "If I don't, he's going to kill that family."

Hotch sighed and he knew she had to go in there. Reid stood behind them, shaking his head at her. Mara unholstered her gun and set it on the roof of the truck. 

Hotch nodded at her. "Talk him down. Sympathize. His parents abandoned him when he was a kid, use that against him. Keep your mic on."

"Yes, sir."

Reid only nodded at her and she knew he didn't want her to go in but he knew this was apart of the job and she had go in. Either way, this was a part of her job. He couldn't stop her from doing that. He could only hope that she came out okay.

Mara took her hair down, hiding the wire from her mic. The team watched her move around the truck and up the stairs, towards a man holding an entire family hostage.