SPENCER WAS GREAT at a lot of things that vivian wasn't. for instance, he was the smartest person she'd ever met. he could read a whole book in the time it would take for her to read a chapter.
but spencer was not great at shooting. or any form of combat, now that vivian thought about it. vivian was the opposite of that. combat was what she excelled at, which was one of the reasons she didn't understand why she had to stay back and research many of their cases (hotch had explained that it was something to do with her under-qualification and how she needed more experience, but she thought she was ready). she'd once fought a man off with a broken beer bottle and her teeth. she'd also won a fight with a raccoon for a piece of pizza, but that was a whole different thing.
spencer made a face as he fired the practice gun and completely missed the target again. vivian and he were both about to go up for reassessment of their gun qualifications/licenses, and vivian wasn't concerned. but spencer was. he was a horrible shot. he always claimed his contacts skewed his hand-eye coordination, but vivian thought he had a horrible aim.
"on swat, we broke shots down into three steps," hotch explained for what felt like the millionth time. "one― front sight. focus on the front sight, not on the target. two― controlled trigger press. three― follow through. after the shot, you come right back to the target. now what did you do wrong?"
spencer closed his eyes and vivian could practically see the headache forming below his forehead. "i didn't follow through."
"right. you came off the target to see where you hit."
"hotch, our firearm qualifications are tomorrow morning," spencer said nervously, stumbling over his words. he gestured wildly at vivian, taking off his headphones. "she'll pass with flying colors like she always does. i barely passed my last one."
hotch nudged vivian forward and she took the cue, picking up the gun. hotch began instructing her again, and vivian mirrored his words. "front sight, trigger press..." bang. "follow through." bull's-eye. it was right on target. she set the gun back down, stepping back with a grin.
"you follow those instructions, you'll hit where you want to every time," vivian said, radiating pride.
spencer fired again, and he managed to hit the target again! sort of. he hit the very edge of the target, not enough to get good points in his qualification exam. but it was progress, vivian thought. spencer still seemed just as frustrated, if not more now. "they're gonna take away my gun," he mumbled, resigned.
"a profiler is not required to carry," hotch tried to reassure as vivian and spencer began packing up and getting ready to leave.
"yeah? and yet you carry two of them," spencer pointed out, gesturing to hotch. he turned to vivian. "and you carry one even when you're off-duty."
vivian snorted. "spence, honey, at any moment, gang members could come bustin' down my door. of course, i'm armed. i don't feel like getting kidnapped and pimped out again, thank you very much."
hotch fired the gun three times, hitting exactly where he'd aimed every time. when he was satisfied, he slid his gun back into his sock and took his headphones off. "when i joined the bau, gideon said to me, 'you don't have to carry a gun to kill someone.'"
"i don't get it," spencer murmured, his brow creased in confusion. it was obvious he wasn't used to not understanding things.
"you will," hotch said immediately. he patted spencer and vivian on the shoulders and left the booth. "good luck tomorrow, guys."
spoiler alert : vivian passed, spencer failed. she felt horrible about it, even though she knew she shouldn't, and every moment his desk sat empty, her worry grew. he was never late. gideon entered the office briskly, elle turning to him and simply stating, "reid failed his qualification."
"i know. he can re-test in two weeks," gideon replied, not stopping to converse.
vivian looked up from the file she was glancing over. "he called me after he found out, he sounded humiliated. i thought he was gonna cry." she turned to morgan with a glare. "don't you dare give him a hard time."
gideon and elle nodded, giving morgan pointed looks. "agreed," they both said in unison.
morgan huffed lightly, holding up his hands in surrender. "not a word." vivian perked up as spencer walked in, holding two cups of coffee and staring at the ground. without a word, he sat one cup on her desk and sat down at his desk. vivian shot him a small "thanks," and a weak smile.
vivian watched morgan suspiciously as he walked over to spencer, an obviously fake concerned expression on his face. "hey," morgan said softly. "we're all here for you." spencer ignored him. "i'm serious." spencer finally looked up at him, displaying insanely cute puppy dog eyes. vivian shook her head. what the hell?
morgan held out a whistle, wrapping the necklace around spencer's neck. "if you ever need anything..." morgan finally grinned, blowing a sharp note on the whistle. "just blow on that." he sauntered back to his desk, chuckling.
vivian rolled her eyes, groaning. "jesus christ, morgan," she mumbled, shaking her head.
spencer's expression contorted in frustration and he angrily threw the whistle onto his desk. he smoothed back his hair, unable to look at any of his coworkers. vivian could practically feel the embarrassment wafting off of him.
jj walked in, raising her voice to alert the team of a new case. "okay, franklin park, des plaines, yesterday afternoon. three victims shot at distance." she leaned over vivian's desk, passing her her case file. "it's the third such shooting in two weeks."
"a sniper?" elle asked, furrowing her eyebrows.
"we don't use that word," morgan said quickly. too quickly.
"why not?"
"the public perception is that the fbi doesn't have an exemplary record with snipers," jj explained, snorting lightly.
"besides, a sniper is a professional marksman," hotch added, flipping through his papers. "these guys aren't snipers."
vivian raised an eyebrow, flipping through a few gorey photographs of the victims. she glanced over at spencer, trying to read his expression. he looked like he wanted to curl up in a ball and cry. he was always one to show his emotions on his face, for a behavioral analyst he was horrible at hiding how he felt. she reached over under the desk and locked her pinky with his. he glanced over at her and she shot him a comforting look, taking note of how his shoulders relaxed slightly.
"what do we call 'em if they're not snipers?" elle asked hotch.
"l.d.s.k."
spencer cleared his throat, speaking up. "long distance serial killers."
elle turned her gaze to him, setting her file down. "how many of these guys have we caught using a profile?"
"none," gideon answered, causing vivian to startle. he'd just snuck up behind her. how the hell did he move so quietly?
˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥
"first and only fatality, henry sachs," hotch presented, clicking through his slideshow. "married, father of three, was shot in a shopping center parking lot. nine days later, doug miller and kevin parks were playing basketball at a community center. franklin park, four days later, jerry middleton, kate murray, and tim reilly. des plaines police have found no link between any of the victims."
"ballistics?" morgan asked quietly.
"he's using frangible rounds, which fragment on impact, making ballistics comparisons impossible."
vivian tilted her head curiously. "he's increasing his victims by one person each time."
"the good news is that all the park victims are gonna make it. the bad news is that none of them saw anything," jj explained, looking between each member of the team. "however, one of the patients does have an intact bullet lodged in his spine." vivian winced.
"what's the prognosis?" gideon asked, as unaffected as always.
"well, there's a disagreement among surgical staff as to whether they can remove the slug without paralyzing the patient."
morgan spoke up, saying what they were all thinking. "well, without a useful witness or a solid piece of forensic evidence..." he trailed off, basically saying they were screwed.
in a much nicer way, hotch said, "the profile's all we'll have."
once they were all settled into the plane, hotch jumped back into analyzing the case. "l.d.s.ks are so rare, we haven't been able to build a standard profile. here's what we do know: they're always male, and they frequently have law enforcement or military experience, and they always contact the police or media."
"to take credit or relive the experience?" jj questioned, her face scrunching up slightly in confusion.
"both," gideon answered. "all serial killers attempt to relive the ecstasy they get from their killings. some use souvenirs taken from the victims, and others return to the dump site to interact with the body?"
"sexually?" vivian asked, her lip curling in disgust. ew.
gideon half-shrugged. "it depends. in some cases, yes. in others, no."
"the beltway shooters left a tarot card at one of their crime scenes," hotch spoke up out of the blue, seeming to connect some dots in his head. "later they called a tip hotline, which ultimately led to their capture."
"but our unsub hasn't contacted anybody," morgan pointed out, making a good observation.
"he will," hotch said firmly.
"until he does, what do we have?" elle asked.
"sometimes it's not what the unsub does that reveals the profile," gideon began from the back of the plane.
"it's what they don't do," vivian finished, her eyes widening in realization. her face flushed slightly. "whoops. sorry for interrupting."
"he doesn't kill his victims," spencer piped in from beside her, looking up from his case file for the first time in the whole journey.
"underkill's a unique signature."
"the question is, does he shoot them in the stomach intentionally just to wound them, or is he just aiming at the biggest part of the target?" hotch asked, cocking his head slightly.
"that would imply he's not a skilled shooter," vivian murmured, half to herself. "he's not a good shot."
˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥
vivian dragged her feet, almost like a child, as elle, gideon, jj, and she walked through the hallways of the hospital where the man with the bullet in his spine was being held. hotch had separated spencer and her, claiming they needed to "branch out" and "work with other people." vivian thought that was stupid and, judging by spencer's expression, he agreed.
she walked into a conference room right as some lady from the hospital (she thought) was introducing the men in the room. "this is dr. neil erstadt, chief of surgery," she was saying, squeezing a silver-haired man's arm. "and our trauma specialist, dr. barry landman." vivian noticed the woman just gestured at that man, not bothering to come near him. he was handsome in a dark way, with long, curly black hair and a cold face. he nodded emotionlessly in hello.
"these are the fbi profilers," the woman said, her voice softening in awe as she turned to look at the fbi's group. "agents gideon, jareau, greenway, and abernathy."
gideon, polite as always, made sure to shake hands with both men and introduce himself personally. vivian stood back quietly with jj and elle, observing silently. she'd learned over the years that she got her best information if people forgot she was even there.
"so as psychological profilers, what exactly are you looking for?" dr. landman asked, his tone bordering on rude.
"how the victims were shot," gideon explained, ever-so-patient. "that could reveal the shooter's signature behavior."
"these separate wound channels blossom from the entrance wounds," dr. erstadt mentioned, walking over to a presentation of x-rays. his tone was much more respectful, and vivian instantly liked him better. "you can see the trauma's extensive."
"you performed the surgeries?" gideon asked, joining him in front of the photos.
"on patient miller. i consulted with dr. landman on the others. the intact slug lodged between the l4-l5 vertebrae. any attempt to remove it would likely leave the patient paralyzed."
"in your opinion," dr. landman snapped.
the two other men turned to face him. "in my opinion," dr. erstadt confirmed.
gideon glanced between them curiously. "disagree?"
"with the right surgeon, there is no risk," dr. landman said confidently.
"there's always risk."
"what significance does the bullet have in building a profile?" the woman asked, clearly trying to break the tension and change the subject.
"well, even if we can't get a ballistics match, we can get a rifle type, and the specific type of rifle the suspect uses, that could be very significant to the profile," gideon explained.
the woman turned to dr. landman. "you believe you can safely perform the surgery, dr. landman?"
"i know i can," dr. landman said arrogantly. in hindsight, he wasn't attractive at all.
˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥
"if i'm the unsub, would do i shoot my victims between 2:55 and 3:15?" elle asked after the small group had made themselves at home at a conference table.
gideon glanced at her over his reading glasses, looking up from his case file. "that's when i'd do it. there are fewer cops on the street."
vivian raised an eyebrow. "why is that?"
gideon turned to her on the opposite side of the table. "well, the police overlap shifts, so there's always someone minding the store. second shift starts at 3:00, first shift walks at 3:30."
"wouldn't there be twice as many cops on the street at that time?" jj pointed out skeptically.
gideon shrugged. "in theory. the first half-hour of your shift, you're in roll call. you're not on the street. and the last half-hour, you're at the station. you're finishin' reports, you're booking prisoners, so the 25 minutes around the first/second shift, that's a bad guy's golden window."
jj made an impressed expression and elle asked tiredly, "how many people outside law enforcement would know that?" gideon was silent. elle seemed to realize, pointing at him. "but the unsub does, and you've already thought of this."
"i had considered it," gideon admitted in a hushed tone.
dr. landman walked in, carrying a plastic bag with a bullet in it. he dropped it on the table between gideon and vivian, never once looking away from gideon. "hope you find it useful," he said coldly, and promptly began to walk back out.
"dr. landman?" gideon asked, stopping him in his tracks. "how's mr. middleton?"
dr. landman turned back around to face them. "patient will make a full recovery... as i told you he would." he sent vivian a cocky smirk and wink, and finally left.
"weirdo," vivian mumbled, rolling her eyes.
jj rolled her eyes as well and shook her head. "radiology is set up to take photos and email them out for consults."
"call hotch. we're gettin' the bullet to garcia," gideon told her as they all began packing up their things, ready to move locations again. vivian sighed, taking a second to run her hand through her hair.
˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥
"this initial profile is not ready to be given to the media," jj began, speaking to the all of the police officers and fbi agents. there had been another shooting, and gideon had made the executive decision that it was time to give the profile. "releasing this profile prematurely can get people killed."
vivian nodded, watching jj from where she stood beside elle. jj had a hard job, vivian often thought, having to deal with the media like that all the time. vivian could surely never do it, and she was dating part of the media.
hotch took jj's place, presenting the actual profile now. "we're looking for a 30 to 40-year-old male veteran, driving a car large enough to shoot from, but not so large it was noticed. like the beltway shooter, it's probably a sedan, customized to conceal the shooter, his weapon, and the sound of the shot. the unsub suffers from both narcissistic and paranoid personality disorders. he works out obsessively and is never without a weapon. he's completely self-centered and cannot empathize with others. incapable of admitting fault, he blames his shortcomings on those around him. he has no friends, and his career history has been marked by frequent job changes. he's drawn to high-stakes jobs by a need to prove his superiority to a world he perceives has undervalued him, and these shootings are the ultimate expression of that need."
he paused, allowing the room to process that before continuing. "we believe he changes jurisdictions intentionally and strikes during the first/second shift change, indicating an intimate knowledge of law enforcement."
it seemed like the whole room paused as the officers realized what hotch was getting at. finally, a man spoke up skeptically. "you're saying he's one of us."
"we're saying he once was or is now a police officer."
the same cop rolled his eyes, smirking now. "is he driving a white van, too?" he asked sarcastically, causing a laugh to ripple through the crowd.
vivian rolled her eyes, scoffing lightly. men.
the police chief turned around with an equally irritated look, snapping, "enough. that'll be all for now." he turned back to hotch, sighing. "we can talk in my office."
˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥
vivian sighed, rolling a chair up to spencer's make-shift desk. he glanced up at her, again with this damn puppy-dog eyes, tilting his head slightly. she tucked a lock of his hair behind his ear, smiling softly. "you doin' okay?"
he scoffed, shifting away from her hand slightly. "what do you think? i look stupid without a gun. i look like some college kid pretending to be an fbi agent."
vivian's smile turned sympathetic. "i'm sorry, spence. but i'll be okay. i promise. you'll pass next time, i'm sure."
he rolled his eyes, turning back to the paper he was absentmindedly doodling on. "sure. how's brad?" he asked dryly.
it was her turn to roll her eyes now and she leaned back in her seat, crossing her arms over her chest. "don't ask me. i haven't seen him since that stupid football game."
that piqued his interest and he raised an eyebrow. "seriously? that was almost two weeks ago."
she let out a short laugh, nodding. "mhm. boyfriend of the year, right?"
"why do you stay with him?" he asked quietly, genuinely curious. he really didn't understand the appeal of assholes like brad, but it seemed to work on vivian. he'd often wondered if he was just too nice. but he didn't want to be mean to anybody. he couldn't fathom the thought of that.
vivian shrugged, staring up at the ceiling. "he can be nice sometimes. like, um, for my birthday, he bought me these beautiful flowers and made a mixtape for me."
"viv, your birthday's in march."
she laughed, genuinely this time. "i know, i know. he's done other stuff, that's just what came to mind. he's not all bad, he just gets in moods. he can be really sweet when he wants to be."
spencer really doubted that, but if vivian said so. he changed the subject, glancing back over at her. "are you going to the reenactment of the crime scene?"
vivian shook her head, accepting the topic change easily. "no, no, i'm staying out on this one. i'm gonna stay back here, comb over our notes. see if we missed anything."
"romeo!" morgan called out from across the room, causing spencer to flinch and look over at him quickly. "time to go!"
spencer moved to stand up, mumbling a goodbye. before he could leave though, vivian grabbed his wrist, holding him in place. she stood up, grinning, and planted a giant kiss to his cheek. his face turned bright red and he let out a quiet yelp. she leaned back proudly, staring at her work. she'd left a red lipstick print right on his cheekbone. he moved to wipe it off and she swatted his hand away. "leave it," she huffed.
"but―" he began.
"just for a few minutes!" she pleaded. "you can take it off at the crime scene. please."
he gave in easily, slumping down. "fine, fine," he mumbled. he would've done anything she asked him to. and they both knew it.
˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥
"of course, the one time i stay back, everything happens!" vivian exclaimed, trailing behind the rest of the group as they returned to the station. "i feel like i missed out on a lifetime!" she had tendencies to be very dramatic when she wanted to be.
spencer shot her a sympathetic smile as the team walked into the conference room. "i almost got shot," he offered, shrugging.
she gasped, grabbing his arm. "are you okay?"
his face lit up at the attention, and for the tiniest second, he almost wished he had gotten shot. nowhere life-threatening, maybe just a graze. but he nodded, grinning. "i'm fine."
"how did mccarty end up playing the unsub?" jj asked the main detective, rubbing her forehead. both her and vivian were trying to put together the pieces of what exactly had happened.
"weigart punished mccarty for mouthing off during the profile briefing by making him the unsub," detective clavin explained, sounding exhausted. "and sticking him in the trunk of the car all afternoon."
"wait," jj held up a hand, her expression morphing into confusion. "then how did the unsub find out about the reenactment?" because of course mccarty wasn't the unsub. that would've been too easy for them. he'd just leaked the story to the press.
"the gossip train," vivian suggested, shrugging.
morgan nodded. "cops talk. pissed-off cops talk loud― at home, at the bars, at gyms, and to anyone who'll listen."
"what do we know?" gideon began rhetorically, launching into one of his long speeches. "our unsub went from wounding civilians to executing a police officer, so he's escalated. he's not staying on script."
"sometimes it's what they don't do," hotch said with a grim expression, echoing vivian's words from the plane.
spencer looked up abruptly. "he did not pick mccarty at random."
after a second, morgan added, "he didn't take the gut shot."
"why?"
gideon looked around, waiting for someone to answer. even spencer seemed stumped at this one. finally, realizing nobody knew why, gideon took it upon himself to answer. "he wants to send a message."
"'nobody takes credit for my work,'" hotch said quietly.
gideon nodded, his mouth curled up in a sad smirk. "yes, sir. his ego won't allow it. he feels underappreciated."
vivian nodded and then tilted her head in confusion again. "alright, that's great and all that, but we still don't know why he doesn't just kill them. why wound them?"
morgan's phone began ringing and he excused himself, exiting the conference room.
"we know if the killer has no contact with his victims, he will contact the media," gideon began, gesticulating.
vivian's eyes widened as it set in. oh. her lip curled up into a proud little smirk. "but he hasn't done that. so he must have contact with the victim."
"and there's only way," hotch said, sharing a look with gideon.
"alright, thanks," morgan said, coming back over the group and hanging up the phone. "garcia nailed down the geographic profile. the crime scenes are centered on two separate locations."
"the hospitals," hotch nodded, confirming their theory. the unsub was a doctor.
"i believe it's a case of hero homicide," gideon explained to detective clavin from the passenger seat of the car. vivian and spencer were in the backseat, vivian desperately holding onto the "oh shit" handle (as she called it) as they sped through the streets.
detective clavin glanced over at him before quickly turning back to the road. "what's that?"
"the best-known case was hospital nurse richard angelo," spencer stated, leaning into the front seat. "he would inject toxins into his victims, then wait for them to crash so he could run to the rescue and save them. he killed 25 people, and that's just what we know of.
"charles cullen was one, too!" vivian added quickly, pleased to be able to talk about something she knew for once. "he's estimated to have killed possibly hundreds of people in a 16-year-long period. he thought he was doing a favor for them, that he was helping them by killing them. i watched a documentary on him."
spencer grinned at her, pride in his eyes. "yeah, that's right! look at you, watching crime documentaries. who's the nerd now?"
she gave him a dead-pan look. "still you, spence. still you."
gideon turned to the backseat suddenly, struck out of his head by an epiphany. "landman. he fits the profile exactly."
˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥
"okay, courtesy of garcia," morgan began, holding up a freshly-printed paper with dr. landman's background check on it. the team had assembled in the hospital conference room again, vivian sitting between elle and spencer. "landman was army, started out in m.p. school."
"well, there's your law enforcement," elle piped up.
"well, he's smart." morgan gave him that at least. "got a degree in uncle sam, and ended up a doctor with special forces. bounced around from hospital to hospital since his discharge in... 2001." he dropped the page onto the table.
while morgan had read off the paper, gideon had stood up, pacing over to the window. "has dr. landman been under any unusual strain?" gideon finally asked a new woman from the hospital. "has he had a reprimand? uh... has he had any kind of major blow to his ego?"
the woman thought for a moment, and then her expression morphed into a look of horror. "last month, he was passed over for chief of surgery."
gideon nodded. "let's get a warrant for his house. let's see if we find the weapon."
morgan nodded back, standing up and heading out of the conference room. "okay. got it."
"what can i do to help?" the woman asked, every aspect of her oozing desperation.
gideon stepped closer to her, looking directly down on her. "you can tell me exactly where he is right now."
˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥
gideon had decided to confront landman sooner rather than later, and vivian, elle, jj, and spencer were peeking at the confrontation through a window. hotch returned from searching dr. landman's car and he walked up behind them, a deep frown on his face. vivian glanced back at him curiously. "find anything?"
"it's a red 2-seat maserati," hotch said dryly.
jj scoffed. "of course."
"if he's the shooter, he has another vehicle," hotch added, eyes flickering between gideon and dr. landman. he looked extremely stressed out, vivian noted, which was normal for a case (obviously). but he looked more stressed than average.
after a few moments of tensely observing the two men, hotch nudged both vivian and spencer. "come on, let's take a walk down to the e.r."
as they walked quickly through the hospital corridors, hotch glanced at the pair. "my guess, dr. pate is gonna corroborate landman's alibi."
"you don't think landman's the shooter?" spencer asked, his eyebrows creasing in intrigue.
"richard angelo wanted to be a hero because in his everyday life, he was a nobody. landman's a surgeon, he has power and recognition," hotch explained.
"yeah, but you know, surgeons are a different breed. there are stars in the field, and landman is definitely not one of them," spencer pointed out, grabbing onto vivian's arm gently so she could keep up with their speed-walking.
when they reached the desk, hotch asked for dr. pate and an awkward man with bug eyes nodded slowly and said he'd fetch her. he was odd. vivian wondered what his deal was.
"the motivations for hero homicide are excitement, power, and respect," hotch said to vivian and spencer in a hushed voice as soon as the odd man had walked off. "and even though landman's not a star, he still gets respect. racing against the clock to save someone's life is exciting."
"but maybe it's not exciting enough," spencer suggested. "that's― that's why he shoots three people at a time."
"but he can only operate on one at a time," vivian pointed out. "where's the extra excitement? watching the other two die?"
spencer nodded slowly. the trio began looking around the emergency room, vivian's expression dampening at all the pain and chaos. the patients looked exhausted, the nurses even more so. a state of dispair hung over the whole room like a dark fog.
"at least, not for landman and not in the o.r," hotch continued, sighing.
"the policemen and e.r. personnel are on the exact same 24-hour shift schedule," spencer pointed out, leaning on the counter.
"the unsub wasn't shooting at shift change because there are fewer cops on the street," hotch began.
"he was shooting then because it was shift change for him," vivian finished, her eyes widening. "he works the second shift. he's here right now."
philip dowd. that was the man. that was him; the shooter. vivian and spencer were on their way to tell gideon, walking briskly through the e.r. and that was when the man from earlier struck spencer across the face with a sniper rifle.
˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥
vivian shrieked, dropping to the ground and shaking him. she ignored the gunshots above her and the sound of the man talking. it was that weird guy from earlier! "spence," she whispered, her eyes welling up quickly.
he gasped awake, clutching onto her hand with an almost painful grip. "viv―" he gasped out frantically, looking around the room wildly.
"sh, sh, sh," she whispered, pressing her forehead to his. "it's okay. but we have to be quiet."
he closed his eyes, letting out a low whimper, like a frightened animal.
suddenly, the man glanced over at them and yelled, "get up, both of you! get over here! double-time, let's go!"
spencer scrambled up and vivian followed, clutching onto his hand. they both held up their free hands to show they weren't holding a weapon. in the midst of her terror, vivian vaguely realized that this was the first time they'd really held hands. it wasn't exactly under the best circumstances though. they lined up next to hotch, spencer limping slightly. the man pointed the sniper at hotch. "you. take their guns, put them on the counter."
vivian was quick to grab her gun herself, sliding it onto the counter. the last thing she wanted to do was piss him off. the man―philip, she supposed― grabbed her handgun and stuffed it in his pocket.
hotch cleared his throat, nodding his head at spencer. "he's not armed." philip seemed to doubt this and hotch shrugged. "see for yourself." his voice was eerily cool, not wavering once. his expression was the epidemy of calm.
philip lunged at spencer, his lips twitching into a smirk at the way spencer flinched and closed his eyes. vivian glared at philip, hatred boring into his head. he was sick. he patted him down and stepped back, his expression relaxing ever-so-slightly when he realized spencer was indeed unarmed.
"get up, keith," philip said, speaking to the security guard now. he tossed him a bundle of zipties. "put those on 'em." vivian refused to let go of spencer's hand until philip rolled his eyes and stormed back up to them, kicking her hand. she yelped, letting go quickly. the security guard gulped and sent her an apologetic look, ziptying her hands together.
"now, put them on yourself," philip instructed. and so the security guard was restrained, too. "now, step back. back up." the guard did as he was told, backing away from the trio in a line. "back up, back up." suddenly angered, philip hit him across the face with his gun, knocking him out cold.
"get down on the ground."
spencer lowered to the ground immediately, his expression purely terrified. vivian followed him, against all her better judgement, not wanting him to be alone and more vulnerable than he already was. philip trained his gun on hotch, who'd remained standing. "have a seat." hotch slowly lowered himself down beside them.
"now, what kind of fbi agent doesn't carry a gun?" philip asked, his mouth set in a cruel sneer.
"i'm a profiler," spencer stuttered out, glancing at vivian nervously.
philip raised an eyebrow. "profiler? they sent you to figure me out?" he grinned mockingly.
spencer shook his head, mouthing 'no.'
"leave him alone," vivian spat, not considering she probably needed to watch her mouth to not get shot.
philip turned his attention on her, a smirk forming. "you're a feisty one, huh? gotta stick up for your boyfriend, right? he can't do it himself?"
her face reddened and her attitude dissipated. "he's not my boyfriend," she muttered.
"shut up, vivian," hotch said quietly, rolling his eyes at her. she flinched.
vivian noticed a tear trickling down spencer's face and her expression collapsed into pity. she wanted to brush away his tears, but she couldn't because of those stupid binds on her wrists.
"we used the profile to catch you," spencer said quickly, clearly trying to take the heat off vivian.
philip grinned, intrigued. "oh? tell me what you think you know about me."
spencer glanced between vivian and hotch, clearly looking for advice. vivian nodded encouragingly and hotch said coldly, "go ahead, genius. tell him." spencer's head swiveled to face hotch and he nodded. "tell him. but, remember, get it wrong and he's gonna kill you."
spencer glanced back at philip, panicked, and he just nodded with that little grin. spencer went quiet, staring down at his lap. vivian scooted over the tiniest amount, pressing her leg against his.
philip turned his gun to hotch. "okay. you're the boss, you tell me. who am i?" hotch was silent, his lips pursed. "what's my plan?" philip mocked.
"you know, you shot eleven people in broad daylight and left us nothing, you executed a cop in front of the fbi and got away clean, and i know your plan is to go down in a hail of bullets."
philip chuckled. "what else do you know?"
"i know you're the smartest guy in every room you've ever been in and no one's ever known it. people feel threatened by you and try to sabotage you every chance they get. you're not a bad person, you help save all of your victims afterwards. first guy wasn't your fault. if the emts had been there on time, he would've lived."
philip scoffed, lowering his gun. "took those guys thirteen minutes. thirteen!"
hotch nodded toward the door. "you'll want to barricade the door."
philip grew confused, glancing at the door quickly. "what?" he snapped.
"let me and the kids do it. let 'em see that you've got three fbi agents in here doing your bidding," hotch offered, cold. calculated.
philip nodded sarcastically. "yeah. let you give them a signal."
"what signal? they knew you were in here, they knew you were armed, what can i tell them?" hotch retorted, making a pretty good point actually.
philip tensed suddenly, raising his gun back to hotch's head, aiming. "what is this? some sort of profiler trick? new negotiation tactic?"
hotch stared at him silently. one of philip's eyes darted to the door again. "the barricade's a good idea though." he lowered his gun once more. "now, why would you wanna help me?"
"i don't," hotch said softly.
philip's eyes narrowed. "you say they knew i was in here."
hotch faltered, his eyes shifting away from philip. he'd messed up, and he knew it. "i said, they know you're in here," he said slowly. but it was too late.
philip shook his head. "oh, no. that's not what you said."
"why does it matter?" spencer asked quickly, staring straight ahead.
"it's just one word," vivian added.
"it matters because your partner wants to help me even though he doesn't know it," philip explained, staring straight at hotch. he grinned. "go ahead, bossman. tell 'em why. if you lie, or leave anything out..." he mimed a gunshot.
"they knew he was in here, they knew he was armed and dangerous, and they knew he was gonna fight until the last round," hotch said quietly, staring down philip. "and they sent me in here with a somewhat useful girl and an unarmed kid who can't shoot his way out of a wet paper bag."
spencer looked down, ashamed, resembling a kicked puppy. for the first time in her whole career with the fbi, vivian wanted to punch hotch in the face. god, she hoped this was a manipulation tactic.
"they set you up," philip said slowly.
"exactly. and they're probably laughing about it right now," hotch continued.
"and that's why you wanna help me."
"i wouldn't say i wanna help you, but when they come in here to get revenge for the cop you killed, you're gonna go down fighting, and in the crossfire, a lot of us are gonna die. they sent me in here, i figure, 'why make it easy for them?'" hotch's voice was crueler than vivian had ever heard it. every word was a razor-sharp blade.
"you know why they took away boygenius's gun?"
philip's eyes flickered to spencer. "why?"
"he failed his qualification. twice a year, i gotta listen to him whine about requalifying, so i tutor him! i even bring in the girl to help motivate him. and he fails again."
philip smirked. "you think you got it rough? these people have done nothing but undermine me since i got here."
"put 'em next to the barricade," hotch suggested nonchalantly, shrugging. "that way, when they bust in here, both our problems are solved. that sort of thing could ruin a cop's career."
vivian and spencer's eyes widened with panic and they shared a look. vivian inched closer to him protectively.
philip nodded, impressed. "you are one sick dude."
hotch scoffed. "how do you think i found you?" philip grinned, showing all his teeth.
vivian gazed over at spencer, trying to memorize every detail of his. she wasn't sure if he would make it of this alive, and she wanted to be able to remember him. remember the deep brown of his eyes and his long eyelashes. remember the crease in his forehead and his soft dimples. in a platonic way obviously. she wanted to remember her friend.
"can i ask you a favor?" hotch asked after a moment of silence.
"you can ask," philip answered.
"i figure the chances of my getting alive out of here are pretty slim."
"so?"
"i want to kick the snot out of this kid."
vivian gasped, her eyes welling up with panicked tears immediately. this could not be happening. "no!" she yelped, her voice coming out choked. "i'll kill you, hotch! i swear to god, i'll kill you!"
hotch continued, ignoring her. "he's made my life miserable for three long years."
philip chuckled, sizing spencer up. "knock yourself out."
and before hotch even touched spencer, he shot vivian a secret apologetic look and punched her in the face, knocking her out cold.
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vivian was ready to fight someone (preferably hotch) when she came to. she was thrashing about for a split second, panicked, before hotch pinned her to the cot and yelled, "vivian! calm down! reid is fine!"
she calmed almost instantly, panting lightly. "what did you do to him, hotch?" she spat out.
"i just kicked him a few times, he's fine," hotch said, as calm as ever, his eyes stern. "he saved all of us. he shot philip, just like i'd planned him to."
her eyes softened with concern. "spencer killed him? really?"
hotch nodded. "he earned his gun back." his lip twitched into a tiny smile. "i think it's a safe guess to say you'll be hearing all about it."
vivian sighed, rubbing her cheek and wincing. "damn, hotch, why'd you knock me out then?"
he was quiet for a long moment, pondering what to say. "i― i'm gonna wait for you to answer that one. you'll understand eventually. and, when you do, you tell me the answer."
she'll understand eventually? what did that even mean?
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a/n : happy late birthday to sage !! this chapter is dedicated to her and several vencer moments were dreamed up by her <3 hope you enjoyed this, make sure to vote and comment yall !! comments give me life
xoxo, jamie <33
published : 4/3/2024 (12:44 am)
edited : n/a
word count : 6,533