I consider myself a rational man most of the time. Well, okay, some of the time. If not reasonable, then sane.
"You're fucking insane," El says, slamming her glass down on the table with a loud thunk.
"I know it's a crazy idea, but hear me out," I say, throwing my hands up in defense. El pours herself another glass of rum and takes a sip. "They won't be able to catch me, so what's the harm?"
El stares at me for what seems like the millionth time and lets out a deep sigh, "You don't know that."
"Yes. Yes, I do. I don't like to toot my own horn, but I'm pretty fucking smart. They're too dumb. I know they are."
"We've been over this; we can't be sure. Also, your ex-girlfriend is a part of the BAU, and I'd argue she knows you better than anyone else. What's to say she won't know exactly how to capture you, to capture us." El explains again, for what feels like the thousandth time. "Look, Spence, as your partner here, I'll go ahead and say that it could work; it has been working. But the thought of you exposing your voice is too risky. If they haven't caught us now, they won't ever if you put away this stupid idea."
El is exasperated. When she signed up to do this with me, she probably thought it would be catching up with an old friend. And sure, she's told me she's excited about dealing with an old friend, but she probably didn't think she'd be spending her time trying to get me to step down from half my ideas.
"They've been getting closer. I know they have," I say, throwing down my glass.
El pauses for a second. "I told you to stop with these stupid ideas."
"Yes, I know," I wave my hand dismissively. "But El, I love puzzles, and when people try to figure them out, they're too dumb. I just want to give them a little motivation. They practically gave up in Portland as soon as they landed."
"You were there? That's dangerous, Spencer!"
"Calm down. They wouldn't have known even if I flat-out told them. They were too busy getting tattoos." I say, putting a picture down in front of her.
"Oh my god," El says, her mouth open as she picks up the picture. "You've gone full creep mode."
I roll my eyes and chuckle. "I wasn't there for them, I was there for my next victim, but they beat me to it." I take the picture back from her hands. "Please. Consider it, at least. I think it would be fun watching them scramble around to try and find me."
El genuinely smiles and lets out a little laugh of delight. "Fine. You have my permission." I get up to hug her. I let her go finally, and she says, "But! Only if I get to win a game of chess. Right now."
"Sure," I smile, pulling out my chess board from my game cabinet.
El and I sit down and play multiple games, telling her my plan. El listens aptly and supplies her commentary when she feels it's needed. We didn't realize the hours had slipped by until we were both starving, and it was 12:00 at night.
"Okay," I sigh as I pour Auggie's dry cereal into his blue bowl. Immediately, he starts using his spoon to pick up the food and shovel it into his mouth, his lap becoming home to Cheerios. And then he starts using his hand, and I would reprimand him, but we're both running late. "And here's your strawberries and yogurt," I say, my nose far away from the small bowl of disgusting food. Auggie laughs. He loves to think it's funny how much I hate the smell of yogurt. He looks at me as if I'm stupid and turns his nose up in disgust. "What?"
"The strawberries are wrong, mumma," he says as if I'm stupid. And I am because I should know he likes his strawberries in the shape of hearts by now. He's still in his pj's, his curls are all over the place, and I can't deal with this right now.
"I'm going to give it to you straight, munchkin. You eat this yogurt just this once, and I'm gonna drop you off at Nana's with a big bowl of candy, alright?" His eyes light up, and he gives me a thumbs up before plunging the same spoon he used to eat his Cheerios with, now with his yogurt. God, it's disgusting how much he loves that shit. Once he's done, I quickly grab a washcloth and clean his dirty face. "Alright, Lovebug, time for Nana's. Let's go!" I say as he hops off the stool and heads to the front door.
I grab his overnight bag (more like a two-week bag), and we both quickly run to the car; me all put together for work except for my hair and Auggie still in his pj's and unruly hair. Boy, my mom will kill me when she sees him like this.
I drop Auggie off, kiss him goodbye and get back in my car, speeding off. I'm so late, and I hope they haven't taken off without me. I take a deep breath to keep composure as I arrive at Quantico. Auggie's daycare shut down, so now all the parents have been scrambling to find new ones with spots open, including me. The lack of notice on the daycare's part has left me stumped.
"Harrison. Lovely of you to join us." Hotch says as I enter the bullpen. Everyone's looking at me, smiles on their faces as I walk in late. I make a crude face at them all and sit down, opening the file before me. Penelope continues her debrief of the killer we're to catch this week as I get situated. I look around at everyone, and it's crazy to think that Hotch and I are the only ones who know who The Hunter is, that Spencer Reid is behind all those gruesome murders, the same guy who can't give you a handshake because of germs.
I realize I've been daydreaming as I didn't hear Hotch say, "Wheels up," Morgan has to tap my shoulder to get me out of my thoughts. "Oh," I say, "Sorry." I pack up the folder and go to the door before Hotch calls me back sternly.
"Harrison. Have you told anyone about Reid?"
"Oh, no. Absolutely not." I say.
"Good. Because I just received this." he gives me his tablet, which holds a video on the screen. I press the play button, and I immediately hear his voice. Talking nonsense about games and shit. His face never enters the frame; the camera focuses on his waist. I don't really hear the video. I can just focus on him. Everything he's showing and everything he's not showing.
"Why is he doing this? I mean, he could've before. Why now? If he wants to push us to find him..." Huh, I guess I was listening to him a little.
"I don't know. That's all I got. I tried to have Penelope trace where it was sent from, but he covered his tracks."
"Smart boy," I say. "Send it to me. I'll try to pick something up."
"Sounds good." He nods, and I turn around to walk to the jet, but he calls my name again. I look at him, and he's still stern, but sometimes Hotch has this look where you can tell he isn't just cold; he's not just feeling one emotion. What he's about to say is with sincerity. "Thank you for joining me on this case. I mean it."
I give him a tight smile before saying, "You're welcome."