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"to be made of flesh was humiliation." - alice munro

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Delilah walked into the conference room a few days later, eyeing footage from a security camera on the screen. JJ and Spencer were already in there with Derek and Hotch.

"Okay, this is from one of the security cameras inside the train. 5 hostages in a car stopped on the tracks. We have one security guard dead from the initial gun fire," JJ explained.

"Is this going on right now?" Spencer asked.

"Yeah, in west Texas," JJ said.

"Why are they asking for us?" Derek asked.

"There is a particular psychological aspect of the hostage taker, which we're especially equipped to handle," Hotch said.

"Can you back the picture up a few frames?" Spencer asked. JJ did so. Spencer peered closer. "Tardive dyskinesia," he said.

"Once more for those of us without an encyclopedic memory?" Derek asked.

"Several facial tics. The kind that develop after years of taking anti-psychotic medication," Spencer said.

"So this guy is psychotic," Derek said.

"Psychotic with hostages," Hotch said.

"And two guns," Delilah commented.

"Hostage situation on the train?" Gideon walked into the conference room with raised eyebrows.

"Yeah, in Texas," JJ said.

"The train in Texas," Gideon muttered.

"My god," Spencer muttered.

"What?" Delilah asked.

"Elle," Gideon said, a grim look on his face.

"What about her?" Delilah said.

Spencer pointed at the screen, where you could vaguely make out Elle's face.

"Oh, fuck," Delilah said.

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"Local authorities have the train surrounded. Bureau, hostage rescue teams and snipers are in position. But they are hesitant to take actions until the negotiation is exhausted. The feeds from the train's two video cameras are being routed to monitors on a mobile command center that the local bureau office brought in," JJ said.

The six of them were in one of the BAU SUVs, Delilah sat in the back row alone, having been the last one to the car because she had to grab coffee.

"We need to know who on that train is going to be a help and who's gonna be a problem," Hotch said.

"All right, let me get Garcia to work some magic on those video feeds," Derek said.

He pressed call on his phone, putting it to his ear.

"Garcia. Okay listen. No playing. We're gonna be feeding you with some security camera video from a hostage situation over a security line. Can you work a face recognition software over it and tell me who's who? Penelope. Elle is one of the hostages," Derek said into the phone. He hung up, looking at Hotch. "She'll get us the names," he said.

"Do we have any contact inside the train yet?" Gideon said.

"No. It took two hours to convince them to allow the phone. But he won't speak to anyone except what he calls the higher authorities," JJ said.

"God?" Hotch said.

"No mention of religion thus far," JJ said.

"Has crisis negotiation's lead claimed to be the higher authority?" Hotch asked.

"The unsub won't speak to him any longer. He gave a deadline of 3 hours to produce this authority," JJ said.

"3 hours, When was that?" Spencer asked.

"Um...2 and a half hours ago," JJ sighed.

"Well, he wants to speak to the higher authority. Then we better give it to him. Put the lights on, sirens, honk the horns make people get out of our away. Get as close to the barricade as possible. When we stop, we sit. We wait 30 seconds. Then we step out," Gideon said.

"Sounds like a cool music video, if the context was different," Delilah muttered.

They pulled up at the scene, lights and sirens blaring. Hotch parked the car, Delilah counting to thirty in her head before following the others out of the car and over to the team already there.

"Don't look at the train. Ignore it. The higher authority isn't concerned about losing a few civilians," Gideon told them.

Delilah kept her eyes firmly away from the train.

"I'll talk to the HRT commander," Hotch said. "Delilah, let's go," he said.

"Going," Delilah said, following him away from the others. "So, I've decided we need a team name, if we're gonna be partnering up for shit like this," Delilah said.

Hotch raised an eyebrow at her.

"Bad timing, I know, but I'm concerned about Elle, so, I'm deflecting," Delilah said.

"You can tell me your suggestions later. Okay?" Hotch said.

"Okay," Delilah smiled at him.

They walked over to the HRT commander, crouching behind the SUV with the man.

"What's the status?" Hotch whispered.

"We're in position from every angle," the man said.

"All right. We might be able to negotiate with this guy but if he requests a priest or if his behavior in any way reflects an end game of kill himself and the hostages, then its over and we need to take the shot and rush the train," Hotch said.

"We'll be ready when you need us," the man said.

Delilah nodded, peering over the vehicle at the train with a frown.

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"We have 40 minutes left," Dallas PD's chief officer said.

The BAU team and the Dallas PD officer were sat in the metal container being used as a tech base for Gideon to communicate with the man on the train.

"Reid, is there a delusion more common than others to a paranoid mind in a psychotic episode?" Hotch asked.

"Delusions are as varied as the people that have them. They're colored by personal experience," Spencer said.

"Okay, well, that is useless," Delilah muttered.

"His arm," Gideon said, pointing at the footage from inside the train.

"What?" Hotch said.

"Look at his arm," Gideon said.

They all peered closer, squinting at the man's arm. It was covered in blobs.

"What is that?" Spencer asked.

"They look like scars," Derek said.

Delilah winced. Not blobs. Maybe she needed an eye test.

"The places he tried to dig it out with a razor or a pen," Gideon said.

"Dig what out?" the Dallas PD officer asked.

"Maybe a microchip?" Hotch said.

"Oh, man. It's almost as common a delusion as claiming to be the new Messiah. Ralph Tortorici held an entire classroom hostage because he believed microchips had been implanted in his body," Spencer said.

"Wait a minute. This guy thinks he has some kind of device stuck in his arm?" the Dallas PD officer asked.

"Probably, and if we don't take it out, he's gonna kill somebody," Gideon said.

Derek's phone rang and he stepped away, talking to Penelope for a few minutes before hanging up and sitting at one of the computers.

"Tell me about the hostages," Gideon said.

Delilah and Hotch followed Gideon towards Derek.

"Ok. Let's see. First we've got Harry Anderson. He's a paper goods salesman. Lived in a small home just outside of Dallas for 18 years with his wife. He's got no children, no investments, no company retirement portfolio," Derek said.

"He doesn't take chances," Gideon said.

"So, what about the kid?" Hotch asked.

"Kid's name-Josh Patel. He's 20 years old. He just got expelled from Gillett university for driving his car into the library building drunk," Derek said.

"He's drinking now, and we don't need a drunk in there," Gideon said.

"Ok. The girl- we don't have a lot to go on. Nothing more than her driver's license. Her name's Elaine Curtis. She lives in a small town in west Texas. She's got no credit cards, no passport. Doesn't look like she travels much at all. This is Dr. Linda Deaton. She's a psychiatrist at stokes mental health center in El Paso. That's where Ted Bryar's been living for the last 9 years," Derek said.

"His doctor?" Delilah said.

"I say probably. She's unmarried, lives in El Paso. She's written several books and papers mainly published in medical circles. She's a popular lecturer. She's scheduled to speak at several symposiums this year and tonight in Dallas. That's it. That's all I got. Garcia's in the process of looking deeper but I don't really see how this lineup's gonna be much of a help to us, Gideon," Derek said.

"Well, let's just hope none of them makes the situation worse," Gideon sighed.

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"All right, how do we remove a microchip that's not there?" Hotch asked, pacing the container with a sigh.

Delilah watched him pace from where she was sat on one of the chairs, scrolling through the article on her phone about Dr. Bryar.

"His speech is lucid. There's no sign of neologisms, word salad, or loosening of associations. As long as he can systemize he'll be able to keep his thinking relatively organized," Spencer said.

"Organized enough to see through any game we try to throw at him?" Derek said.

"And if he's convinced it's in his arm and not in a place like his lower back or his neck," Hotch said.

"An incision means he's gonna be watching," Delilah said.

"Maybe we can just convince him that he's been looking in the wrong place," Derek said.

"Or we could fake it. Conceal a chip in the palm, a little sleight of hand," Spencer said.

"Oh, come on, Reid what are you talking about? A magic trick?" Derek asked.

"Yeah, I'm talking about a magic trick," Spencer said.

"No," Hotch said.

"I used to do it during college exams. I can make it appear, I can make it disappear," Spencer said, flicking a coin in and out of view.

"We can't risk giving him another agent as a hostage," Hotch said.

"We have to do something," Spencer said.

"All right, Reid. Let's go. Teach it to me," Derek stood up, walking towards Spencer.

"What? No," Spencer said.

"Look, if you can do it, I can do it. Show it to me," Derek said.

"I've been practicing this my whole life. We have less than 30 minutes," Spencer said.

"Reid, I am not about to let you get on that train with an armed psychotic," Derek said.

"We don't have any other choice, do we?" Spencer said.

"I could go. I can't do the magic flicky thing, but I could probably knock him out," Delilah said.

"And get shot trying to do that? Nope," Hotch said.

"We don't have any other choice," Gideon said.

"I'm going in?" Delilah said hopefully.

"You and Reid can both go in. But he probably won't give you the chance to knock him out," Hotch said.

"Damn," Delilah sighed.

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"You gotta relax, man," Derek eyed Spencer as he dropped the microchip on the floor.

Delilah, Hotch, JJ and Gideon were with them, Delilah slightly upset at the fact their unsub was refusing two agents, and Spencer's magic trumped Delilah's ability to knock him out. She was worried poor Spencer would get himself shot.

"The chip's a lot smaller than I'm used to doing it with, all right?" Spencer muttered.

"I'm pulling the plug on this," Gideon said.

"No, no, hold on. One more," Spencer said, flicking the chip correctly this time.

"Take his chip out. Then get off the train. You understand? Tell him you need to get back to the higher authority. Say you have guidelines to follow, whatever. Do not stay in there with him. That's an order," Gideon said.

"Yes, sir. Could you guys do me a favor?" Spencer asked.

"Anything," Derek said.

"Could at least one of you look like you're gonna see me again?" Spencer asked.

"See you when you get back," Hotch said.

Delilah nodded, a smile on her face.

"I'll tell you all about my team name ideas for Hotch and I," she said.

"I can't wait," Spencer said, starting to walk away.

Delilah sighed, watching him go with a frown.

"If anything happens to him, I'm going to snap Dr. Bryar's neck," Delilah said bluntly.

"That's aggressive," Derek said. "I'm in."

"Me, too," Gideon muttered.

He and Derek hurried off to go back to the surveillance cameras, while Hotch hurried off to be with the commander of the SWAT team. Delilah stayed with JJ, watching what they could see through the small gaps in the blinds on the train.

"I feel sick," JJ muttered.

"Me, too," Delilah said quietly. "Me, too."

They watched for about three minutes before Delilah grabbed JJ, tugging her towards the tech box. Hotch was already in there, the two girls completing the team, minus Spencer and Elle. Gideon was trying to ring Bryar, and it was clear he was getting agitated.

Bryar fired his gun at his doctor on the CCTV, the young man catching her as she fell to the ground. Delilah winced.

"Shit," she whispered.

"I said it all ends today. Me, these agents-it all ends today," Dr. Byrar said.

"What does that mean?" JJ asked.

"It means he's decided on an end game. He's going to kill himself and the hostages," Hotch said.

They continued watching. Byrar shot the phone after a few minutes of it ringing, Gideon cursing as he put their phone down.

"Let me know when HRT's ready," Gideon said.

Hotch and Delilah quickly left the cabin, hurrying over to the HRT leader. Delilah grabbed her gun out of her holster, getting behind the SUV with Hotch and the HRT leader.

Gradually, they moved closer to the entrance of the train cart, Delilah following Hotch as they leaned against the side of the cart out of sight from anyone inside. She looked over towards the tech box and frowned.

She could see blonde hair against the metal and she knew it was JJ, knew JJ was watching. Delilah forced her eyes away, trying to focus on the fact that two of her teammates were locked inside a train cart with a psychopath.

Gideon hurried over to them, but a gun firing stopped him in his path.

Delilah and Hotch recoiled back, taking all of one second to recover before storming onto the train. Delilah made it on first, holding her gun up as she crept into the train cart where Elle, Spencer, Bryar and the other hostages were.

Bryar was slumped on a seat, their hostage who didn't take risks holding a gun up in the air. Delilah raised an eyebrow at him.

"I had to. He was going to kill us. I had to. God forgive me," the man said.

"We need an ambulance," Spencer said.

Delilah held her hand out to the hostage, while Hotch hurried to take care of the doctor that Bryar shot.

"Gun, please," she said.

He handed it over, Delilah taking it and putting it in her holster. She grabbed the two other guns off the floor, eyeing Bryar as she stood up again.

"Dude, you shot him in his balls," Delilah looked at the hostage.

"I didn't aim for them," the man said.

Delilah bit back a laugh, looking at Spencer and Elle.

"You good?" she said.

"Yeah. We're good," Elle said.

"Good," Delilah said. "Then let's go."

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"So," Liv leaned against the kitchen counter a few days later, eyeing Delilah as she mixed cookie batter in a bowl.

"So?" Delilah said.

"It's, uh, three thirty eight in the morning and we are making cookies. You're in work at eight. Any particular reason why we're boycotting sleep tonight?" Liv asked.

"I wasn't particularly tired," Delilah said. "Besides, cookies are an any time food. I can bake them at any time," she said.

"And I would totally be on board with that, but you only bake when you're stressed," Liv said.

"I'm a profiler. I'm always stressed. I just wanted cookies," Delilah said.

"Okay," Liv said, eyeing Delilah as she started putting the batter in circles on the baking tray.

Delilah finished the tray and put it in the oven, grabbing a spoon and taking a bite of the left over batter. She handed the spoon to Liv, who did the same.

"You're stressed about Eli," Liv said.

"Can you not profile me?" Delilah asked, raising an eyebrow at Liv.

"I'm not profiling. I'm your sister and I know you. And I'm stressed about it, too, so," Liv said.

"I'm not stressed about Eli," Delilah said.

"Okay," Liv said.

"I can't be stressed about a dead person," Delilah said.

"But you can be stressed about the anniversary," Liv said.

"Liv, seriously, I don't want-" Delilah started.

"It's almost seven years since he died. You were seventeen the last time you saw him. You're allowed to be-"

"I don't give a shit about Eli," Delilah snapped. "He never came back, not even after Dylan or dad or anything. He didn't give a shit about me when I needed him, so I don't give a shit about him. He was dead to me long before he died," Delilah said.

"He's our brother. He is still our brother," Liv said, chewing on the inside of her cheek.

"He chose drugs over you. He chose drugs over me. We went to him so many times, but he kept making that decision to leave his sisters behind," Delilah said.

"Addiction is-"

"A disease, but Dave offered to pay for his rehab. He offered to have Eli move in with us, to get him a job when he was sober so he could get back on his feet and make a life for himself. He had a chance at recovery and he didn't love us enough to even try it. Not even once. He just told us to fuck off and forget about him, and that's what I'm trying to do," Delilah said.

Liv stared at her for a few seconds, tears streaming down her cheeks. She wiped her tears with her sleeve.

"Is that how you feel about me?" Liv asked.

"What?" Delilah scoffed. "Liv, you never abandoned me for drugs. You never stopped looking for me or trying to find me. You never gave up on me. Why would I ever feel that way about you?" Delilah said.

"Because I promised to protect you when mom died and I failed. I couldn't find you, you wrote in your diary that you thought I'd given up on you, that I'd abandoned you. Is that how you feel about me?" Liv said.

"You didn't fail me," Delilah sighed, moving around the island to hug Liv. "You and Eli are completely different. I wrote that in my diary after... After my birthday, and I'm pretty sure I was borderline insane at that point. You had a choice and you picked me. Eli didn't. I love you. And... And I love Eli. I just... I hate him, too, and that's allowed," Delilah mumbled.

Liv wrapped her arms around Delilah, kissing her forehead three times.

"I'm sorry for being so pushy. I'm just worried you'll spiral or have another down day like on Halloween and I know Eli is a touchy subject so I wanted to try and make sure you were okay but... but I'm me and I have no filter," Liv sighed.

"It's okay. I'm sorry for snapping. I'm... I just know Hotch is gonna ask me if I'm okay to work tomorrow on the anniversary and it pisses me off. I'm not a victim and they treat me like one," Delilah said.

"Do you want me to text him?" Liv asked.

"I think I'm old enough to tell my boss to back off. But, thank you for offering," Delilah said.

"I love you, Lilah," Liv whispered.

"I love you, too. I'm sorry for being so difficult. I know I'm the root of most of your anxiety and stress," Delilah mumbled.

"You are. Hurricane Delilah," Liv laughed quietly. "But I love you for it. Now, I'm assuming we will not be sleeping tonight. So, go and pick a movie. I'll make hot chocolates and check on the cookies, and then we'll go to work on no sleep and complain about it all day to our coworkers," Liv said.

"Sounds like a great plan," Delilah grinned. 

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