Two: Pawn In A Chess Game.

11x02 | The Witness.

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          Julia Cortez thought she was acquainting well at the BAU. It had only been a few weeks since she joined the Bureau and so far, she liked it.

          She liked the people, the workload, the hours and better yet — the coffee! The coffee was so damn good, Julia found herself getting at least three cups a day. (She'd eventually cut herself off — not really.)

           And now, she was being brought in for her first big case with the team as an agent. Well, technically, she's still a doctor, but still. She hadn't informed anyone of her family, the reputation they had upheld here was far more than delicate. And she hadn't even informed her mother she was now working for the Bureau — not that she wanted her to know anyways.

The only person that knew in the family had been her older brother, Manny. And of course, she knew he wouldn't tell their mother a damn thing.

And it was better the team didn't know who she was related to anyways. Only people that actually seemed to know were Agent Hotchner — who she could now dub as Hotch, since he'd prefer it — and Agent Rossi — whom she'd seemed to gain trust with now anyways. He was like the father she didn't know she even needed.

And speaking of which, she'd taken a seat next to him at the round table conference room where the team had usually met up for cases, she'd found out. "Do you know where the case is at?" Julia asked as she'd taken a bite of the pink-sprinkled donut she'd brought up with her to the room.

"L.A.," Agent Morgan confirmed as he'd taken a sip of his coffee. "Hotch and Garcia should make their way up now to give us more details." Rossi looked over at the girl, "First big case, you ready for it?"

Julia snapped her head towards Rossi, mouth full of donut. "Oh, yeah, super excited." She spoke. Stress-eating, a habit Rossi knew all too well. And something Julia seemed to pick up on.

"I take it someone is feeling a little nervous about their first big case?" Morgan questions as he sits up and directs his attention to the young woman. Julia scoffs and shakes her head, "Please. I have literally stood in front of grenades, what do I have to be nervous about?"

"What wouldn't you be nervous about?" Morgan asks. "It's okay to be a little nervous, we all were when we first began." He told. Julia shrugged in response, figuring that maybe he was right and it was okay to feel a little nervous.

"Well, then, I guess you're right. I am feeling a bit nervous. I just... don't like messing stuff up." Julia told.

"Are you confident in your skills?" Rossi asks the woman and Julia thinks on it for a second.
"Well, relatively, but—"
"Then, you won't mess up."
Julia takes a breath and figures she works better under immense pressure anyways.

Julia had taken a liking to all of her new co-workers so far. The BAU team had consisted of six other members — eight if you now included her and Dr. Lewis. She'd gotten know them over the last few weeks and each of them were pretty good at their skills and ethic.

Her and Dr. Tara Lewis had been close now, since they'd both got hired at the same time. Tara had been a forensic psychologist who'd interviewed with serial killers to determine whether or not they were fit for trial. She was pretty badass and just as down to Earth as Julia.

Penelope Garcia, the technical analyst, stayed at the Bureau while the team traveled, showing off her hacking skills and helping from her own humble abode that she called her lair. She was sunshiny and sweet and loved colors and trinkets and warm croissants. She was a happy cloud on a dark and stormy day. And Julia was already dubbed her best friend since they'd seem to have the same sense of humor and sensitivity. Along with very flirtatious personality.

The victim of the flirtatious personality Penelope had seemed to exhibit was brought on to none other than Derek Morgan himself. He was the brawn and/or muscles of the whole operation, tough guy kicking down doors. But underneath that tough persona had been one big softie. And he'd more so lend a lot of the softness to Penelope herself. They'd call each other nicknames like 'baby girl' and 'chocolate thunder' — to which Julia found endearing. And Morgan, he was a pretty respectable guy, despite the "trust no one" intimidating antics.

Rossi, of course, had been at the Bureau since it was first called the Behavioral Science Unit. He and Jason Gideon had made it up to the big leagues and when Jason Gideon left the BAU, Rossi had come back from his retirement to help the BAU. Julia had known that much and later found out, he'd settled for writing books — to which she unfortunately hadn't read yet. From the few weeks she's been here, she sees that David Rossi is the rich grandpa of the group. One that everyone seems to go to for advice and such, even Agent Hotchner himself.

Aaron Hotchner had been the Unit Chief of the BAU. He'd always seemed to have a stoic expression written on his face and it left Julia wondering why the man never seemed to smile. But from what she gathered, the man had a tragic past. She'd later found out from Garcia that he'd lost his ex-wife to the infamous serial killer, George Foyet, AKA The Boston Reaper. Of course, it's been nearly six years since that but Julia couldn't imagine ever dealing with that. She'd silently applauded him from afar and hoped that despite his stoic expression, he was still sensitive under that armor.

Now, Julia hadn't met her yet but everyone had seemed to mention Agent Jennifer Jareau, whom was currently on maternity leave after having her second born child. She'd heard incredible stories about the woman and how she'd started as a communications liaison before being forced to leave and then coming back as a profiler. She already sounded awesome, according to Julia. She'd overheard Dr. Reid talking about his visitations with his godsons, Michael and Henry. And the way he talked about them was so fond in his eyes.

            Speaking of Dr. Spencer Reid, he was the one that Julia couldn't figure out. Of course, he was still open and talkative but it felt like he was holding a lot back from Julia. Julia, on the other hand, thought that the genius was adorably cute and admired the way he talked and rambled. He'd had an IQ of 187 and an eidetic memory — and it was just so unheard of to Julia — but it honestly just made him even cuter. He seemed humble of himself and seemed to shut down when others interrupted his rambling. And Julia felt for him.

So far, the team was pretty tight knit and Julia knew it'd take time before they warmed up to her and maybe even Tara, as well.

            Julia sat at the table as she looked over the file in front of her as Dr. Reid and Tara had walked into the room. "A bizarre coincidence, right?" Tara asked the man as they stood with mugs of coffee in their hands.

         "What's a coincidence?" Rossi asked, curious on what their conversation entailed. "Tara's mom went to the same elementary school as the Truck Stop Strangler's mom." Dr. Reid informed and Julia raised her brows.

"Okay, that's a little creepy somehow." Morgan commented. "Yeah." Tara agreed.
"Definitely a bizarre coincidence." Julia nods as she adds in her input.

And before they can get into the details of that, Hotch and Garcia had walked into the room. "Don't get comfortable. The plane's waiting for us." Hotch informed to the team.

         "Ten minutes ago there was a poison gas attack on a city link commuter bus in Los Angeles. Ten confirmed dead so far." Garcia addresses to the team and it piques Julia's attention.
         "Do we know what it was?" Tara asked. Garcia shakes her head at the woman. "Hazmat just got on the scene."

          The team had taken the opportunity to stand and gather their things as they all head for the elevator to go on their case. "Chlorine gas was used recently in Syria. Maybe it's connected." Morgan suggested as they walk out of the room and towards the entrance of the bullpen.

"It also reminds me of the attack on the Tokyo subway," Reid chimes in. "Religious cult members carried plastic bags of sarin and punctured them with umbrella tips."
"That was 1995." Rossi stated.
"There a chance it could be a 20th year anniversary event?" Julia wonders.
"We'll find out." Hotch tells as the group heads towards the elevator and heads down to the jet for their new case.

Julia had taken a random spot next to the window on the jet, looking over the case on one of the files. They'd gotten settled in and Julia found herself staring outside at the sky. She'd been on a jet before, mostly because of her parents' doing but something about this seemed more peaceful and less strained, in a sense, than when her and her parents would be on a flight together.

           She actually preferred jets over national airlines due to a personal trauma she went through as a kid. But more on that later...

         Before they arrive at their destination, they begin to debrief on their case as Garcia pops in to give the team some bad news. "Oh, crime-fighters, I just got confirmation from the L.A. field office that traces of sarin were found."

          Julia looks towards Reid, sitting in front of her as he speaks up. "Sarin is the most volatile nerve agent there is. Symptoms are felt within seconds. Watery eyes, foaming at the nose and mouth, and convulsions, paralysis, and death within minutes." He explains.

         "The last known use of sarin was two years ago in Syria, near Damascus." Tara added.
         "We've had recent threats of terrorism targeting major U.S. cities." Morgan nodded. "The religious cult responsible for the Tokyo subway attack 20 years ago is also still active." Rossi stated as he motions towards the newspaper article in front of him regarding the incident. 

"Very much so, but they've split into two branches with different names. There's over 2,100 members and 4 of them are in Southern California." Reid explains to the team.

"Where's the leader?" Morgan asks. "Shoko Asahara's on death row in Japan. He's incoherent and confined to a wheelchair." Hotch informed.

"So he's not calling any shots." Rossi debunked. "Assuming not, but that doesn't rule out devout followers doing it in his name. We could have a copycat on our hands." Julia stated.

"Garcia, what do you know about the casualties?" Tara asks, facing towards the screen. "Aside from the IDs, not much." Garcia said.

       "Well, it's 6 men and 4 women, age range 20 to 60. Victimology seems to be pretty random." Morgan told.

        "Here's the thing-- sarin evaporates quickly, it's hard to control, and would thus be very difficult to target an individual." Reid told. "Yeah and collateral damage may mask the real target." Julia adds and Reid nods at her words, taking them right from his mouth. (Sorry, man, you're not the only genius here!)

        "Garcia, look into the victims and also anyone online claiming responsibility." Hotch orders the technical analyst and she nods before she signs off, "Aye aye, captain."

          Hotch had separated the groups. He, Morgan and Tara would go to the LA field office while Julia, Rossi and Reid would go down where the accident happened to uncover what the hazmats may have found.

So, Julia had gone with Rossi and Reid to the crime scene and they'd shortly arrived after a short drive there. Once they'd gotten out of the SUV, they were met with a man walking up to them. "I'm Agent Young," he introduces himself as they all continue to walk on the scene. "The Hazmat teams says they're almost done with their decontamination."

         "Well, the good news with sarin, if there is such a thing, is that it's a relatively short-lived threat. Once it dissipates, there's very little cleanup to be done." Reid told and the man nods and quickly excuses himself for a moment.

         "If sarin is so fast and deadly, how can someone release it without harming themselves in the process?" Julia decides to ask and Reid then nods at her, "Excellent question. The cult members in Tokyo wore surgical masks, and even with them, some of them were still injured. I'm guessing that--"

Agent Young approaches the group again, this time a bag in his hand with a device in the bag. "The techs just found this, stuck under a seat in the third row. It tested positive for sarin residue."

         The agent hands the bag to Reid. "It looks like some kind of time-release device." Julia then nudges her head at the doctor. "Can I see it?" Reid hands the bag to Julia as she begins to examine it herself. Her skill was always forensic evidence, perhaps she could bring something to the table with that.

        "Looks homemade. I think it's also battery operated." Julia determines.
"You know, it reminds me of an automatic fish food feeder." Reid stated as Julia hands the bag right back to him.

"How would it work?" Agent Young asks. "With a fish food feeder, there's a disk inside with multiple slots. Each slot is filled with fish food. As the disk rotates, the food is released at very specific times. My assumption is, with this device, only one slot was filled with sarin, because even in a miniscule amount, sarin is deadly." Reid explains away.

He kinda does seem like a guy who'd own a fish, Julia thinks as he talks.

          "So someone could have planted that a long time ago." Rossi suggests. "How long ago?" Young questions.

          "My fish food feeder lasts six weeks, so, theoretically... the unsub could have left all the slots empty except for the very last one, and then waited six weeks for the sarin to be released." Reid told. "It means we need to look at everyone who got on and off that bus for the last month and a half."

           "Needle meet haystack." Julia comments and Young takes a sigh after Reid had explained away, "Great."

            After that, Reid, Rossi and Julia had gone to the L.A. field office to meet back with the rest of the team. They were beginning to do their research and trying to uncover what they knew.

            Julia sat in that conference room, fiddling with her necklace around her neck and currently taking a sip of her warm coffee as Morgan walked into the room. "Assuming this wasn't a fresh batch of sarin, where would you get this stuff premade?"

"Technically, nowhere." Reid stated. "After the U.N. banned the use of chemical weapons, everyone was supposed to destroy their stockpiles by 2007."

"Wow, you really know a lot of things, Reid." Julia comments and Reid nods in response as Morgan smirks, "It's just a part of his charm, sunshine." He tells.

Julia rolls her eyes at the man and his now preferred nickname for her. (He'd chosen 'sunshine' because of the fact that she always seemed to be smiling about something, no matter what). Julia figured it was better than Morgan calling Reid 'pretty boy' or calling Penelope 'baby girl'. Having a nickname meant she was part of something. And she kinda liked it.

Hotch's cell phone rings and he goes to pick it up. "Go ahead, Garcia." Hotch orders and he puts the technical analyst on speaker. "I come bearing information gifts. There are many chemists in the L.A. area, but one in particular is Johann Geitman. He was fired two months ago from Holder Industries for online gambling at work. He posted a huge rant on social media saying that they would come to regret what they did."

        "Sounds like a threat." Julia stated.
        "Could be retaliation." Reid added.
        "We should talk to him." Morgan concurred.

       "Yeah, here's the thing. I have a P.O. box where he gets his mail, but I don't have a current address, and he canceled his cell phone two weeks ago." Garcia told.

       "All right, keep digging." Hotch nodded. "I will turn over every kilobyte till he is found." Garcia concluded and hung up the phone.

Julia turns her attention to the lead on the case, Agent Natalie Colfax of the L.A. field office as she walks into the room in a haste. "Hey. You're gonna want to see this." She tells, turning the TV screen on in the room.

"You asked us to look at surveillance in the areas that the city link stops. We picked this up from the commuter parking lot at the Victory depot this morning." Colfax starts as she clicks on the TV with the remote. "According to the time marker, he parks here, just before bus 290 arrives. Then he leaves... and then he returns to his car a few minutes later." She explains as she points out the details.

"So he never got on the bus." Morgan concluded. Colfax shakes her head, "Nope. Running the license plate now."

"He gets back into his car, he's holding something." Reid points out as he stands to get a better look. "What is that?"

       Julia tilts her head as she nudges her head more forward. "Bottle of water?" Colfax guesses. "Maybe it's sarin." Morgan suggests.

      "He's cleaning his hands and clothes with it." Reid stated. "Why would he be doing that?" Morgan asks.

       "Washing with soap and water is what you're supposed to do immediately after you get exposed to sarin." Julia told, causing everyone to look her way and she notices quickly. "What? Reid's not the only one with charm." She smirks and Morgan chuckles softly as Reid gulps.

Colfax checks her cell phone and announces, "Okay. Our car belongs to a Charles Senarak. He lives in Simi Valley and works at Banning Medical Supply. And he's a regular commuter on the city link but didn't ride this morning."

"We need to pay Mr. Senarak a visit." Hotch concluded and he'd sent Tara and Rossi to go and speak with him.

They both had shared that Charles Senarak seemed to be truthful about him not being the cause of the city link attack but it seemed like he was hiding something deeper. So, Rossi had Garcia do a background check on him — for one, to confirm his alibi and two, to see just truthful he was.

         They'd later found out that Johann Geitman that Garcia had talked about earlier was now dead by a single gunshot wound to the head. Reid and Morgan had gone down to check out the crime scene at a cabin. And they'd also delivered their profile, coming out with the fact that there was a chance that Holder Industries still had sarin. 

         Rossi and Julia had been in the conference room when Morgan and Tara had both walked in. "Well, we were right. Geitman was interested in Holder Industry's sarin stockpile. We interviewed his supervisor, he said he asked about it two months ago." Morgan informed the two.

        "Now, although Geitman didn't express any extremist tendencies, he was in deep financial trouble. In addition to the online gambling, he owed back taxes and he invested heavily in a company that eventually went bankrupt." Tara explained.

"So he just sold the sarin for the money, and the unsub killed him so he couldn't talk." Rossi stated. "What a way to keep someone's mouth shut." Julia added.

Agent Young had then walked into the room. "So, we reviewed the surveillance footage from the gas station near the cabin. You're not gonna believe what we found. A red Subaru was there yesterday evening just after 10 pm." He explained.

Rossi then quickly got ahold of Garcia. "Let me guess. It was driven by our very own Charlie Senarak?" He asked and Agent Young nodded, "Yep."

Garcia then answered the phone and Rossi went right into it. "Garcia, what did you find out about Charlie Senarak?"

"Charlie reminds me of the color beige, not that there's anything wrong with the color beige, aside from the fact that's the only color I look bad in. He's worked for the last fourteen years as a sales associate at Banning Medical Supply. His wife works there, too. They've been married for thirteen years. Her name is Tracy. She got a promotion four months ago to team manager. They have a 12-year-old daughter Jolene. He has no criminal record. He has no traffic tickets. His social media posts are just like--he's beige." Garcia explained.

"I don't know," Morgan shook his head in response. "This guy doesn't fit our profile at all."
"But it can't just be a coincidence he was at the gas station near the cabin." Rossi told.

"Maybe he's a little more connected than we thought." Julia stated and then spoke up so Garcia could hear her. "Garcia, any recent purchases that stand out?" She asks. "Handgun? Ammunition?"

"No, nothing I can see," Garcia answers. "Except the last 3 months, he has a lot of credit card charges to a marriage counselor."

"So he lied about his marriage being fine." Tara stated. "What's his mother's birthday?" Rossi decides to ask and Garcia finds it in a flash. "January 10th."

"And not two days ago like he said." Tara said. "So, what else is Charlie lying about?" Rossi wonders.

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           Hotch had sent Rossi, Reid and Julia to the Banning Medical Supply that Charles Senarak had worked to bring Charles Senarak in for questioning. As they'd gone up in an elevator, Rossi's cell had suddenly began to ring and he quickly picked it up.

"Go ahead, Penelope." Rossi persuades and Garcia fires away. "Charlie Senarak isn't beige at all. He's a Verdant green. A month ago, he went on this ranty Facebook post about men who cheat with married women, then early yesterday morning he deleted it. I was just able to recover it, and his Internet search history-- hot magma of homicidal rage doesn't even begin to cover it."

"Maybe Charlie found out his wife was having an affair." Julia suggests. "If that's the case, he could be spiraling and lashing out at the world." Reid adds.

The elevator stops to where they need to be and Reid ushers Julia to get off first as Rossi and Reid both then follow behind. "Thanks, Penelope, we're at his office now."

Rossi hangs up the cell phone as they then walk in. A woman had approached the three. "Can I help you?" She asked.
"We're looking for Charlie Senarak." Rossi told the woman.

"I'm his wife. Is something wrong?" The woman asks, looking at the three agents suspiciously. Rossi holds up his badge to show they were here on business. "We're with the FBI. We're just looking to follow up with him. Where is he?"

The woman looks at the agents. "He left a half an hour ago. I think he had a meeting with a client." Julia raises her brows and then concludes to her, "I think we both know that that might not be true, ma'am. Is there an area where we can speak with you?"

Tracy shows the agents where they can go to talk and backup comes in to investigate Charlie's desk and go through his things with a warrant, of course.

They'd also saw Charlie had his wife's phone in his desk and went to explain to her just what was happening. "My phone was in Charlie's desk? I don't understand." Tracy had seemed very confused about the whole thing.

"Your husband's hiding something. We think he's connected to the sarin attack. We just don't know how, exactly." Rossi stated and Tracy scoffs out of disbelief. "That's impossible. That's not like Charlie at all."

        Julia looks at the woman and then cuts to the chase. "You were having an affair, weren't you?" She asks. Tracy has a guilty look on her face as she looks down in shame. "I'm assuming that's a yes?" Julia asks as she tilts her head down to meet Tracy's eyes.

Reid interjects with a soft voice, "You'd be surprised what someone with a broken heart will do." And at that moment, Julia wonders if maybe he knows what he's talking about.

"Who was it with?" Rossi decides to ask. "Theo Koutranis," Tracy stated. "But I was trying to end it with him."

"Did Charlie know that?" Julia asked. "He thought it was already over." Tracy answered. "But Theo was... persistent." Something flashes in her eyes and she begins to well up with tears as her face washes with grief. "Oh, my God."

       "What?" Rossi asks. "Theo's been missing for two days. His brother was here earlier looking for him."

        Rossi holds his hand forward. "May I?" Tracy hands him her phone that was placed in a bag since it was evidence and looks over at it through the plastic. "It looks like Theo sent you a text two days ago. 'Meet me at the Desert Bloom Inn, 10 pm, room 3.'" He hands the phone back to Tracy. "I never--I never got this." Tracy admitted.

         "Because Charlie had your phone, which means that he saw it." Reid theorized. "So he knew you were still having an affair. Maybe he went to confront Theo." Rossi told.

         Fear is stricken within Tracy and Julia can see it right away. "Mrs. Senarak." Julia asks, not wanting the woman to hold back any information that was vital to the case.

"Charlie didn't come home two nights ago," Tracy admits. "He said he was driving around."

"That was the night before the attack." Rossi tells. "Tell us more about Theo Koutranis."

Tracy had told all she needed to tell, or what she knew at least and the three had called Garcia soon after to gather her own information about Theo Koutranis.

"Talk to me, Penelope." Rossi asked as soon as they'd walked out of the office building. "You were right, handsome Italian man. Theo Koutranis is more than just a lover boy. His name used to be Theo Martin. He grew up in the Heaven's Mission cult compound in Southern Utah. He was one of 50-- 50 illegitimate children of the cult leader, who had vehement anti-government views." Garcia explained.

"Shades of David Koresh." Rossi comments.
"Oh, sure. And eight years ago, he moved here with his half-brother Mitchell Crossford. Uh, Mitchell blogged about launching terrorist attacks here in the United States. They shared an apartment up until three months ago." Garcia continued.

"Three months ago is right around the time Theo started having an affair with Tracy Senarak." Reid stated. "What if Theo and Mitchell were planning a terrorist attack together, but then Theo started to have second thoughts?" Julia wondered.

"That is the sound of you nailing it, braniac doctor #2, #1 being Reid but fret not — you're #1 in my heart, sweet angel." Garcia stated and Julia smirks at that. "Because for the last month, twice a day, every day, Mitchell has called Theo. Theo only answered once, and the last text Mitchell sent him was, 'You can't run away. I know everything you do.'"

"Penelope, dig up everything you can about the brother Mitchell Crossford." Rossi ordered.
"Copy copy."

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           The three arrived back at the field office to tell the team what they'd found out from speaking with Charles Senarak's wife. "The two brothers were planning a terrorist attack together until they had a falling-out over Tracy Senarak." Reid stated.

"So you think Charlie went to confront Theo about sleeping with his wife?" Tara asked. "That's what it looks like." Julia nodded.

"Theo's been missing for two days. There's a good chance Charlie killed him." Morgan said. Tara begins to think to herself. "Ok. 'You can't run away. I know everything you do.'" Tara then speaks up. "What if Mitchell Crossford was following his brother around, trying to bring him back into the fold?"

"Which means he also could have witnessed Charlie murder Theo." Reid concludes.

Before they could continue, Colfax walks into the room. "So we sent agents to the last location where Theo Koutranis' cell phone pinged. They just found what looks like a shallow grave about a mile into the desert just west of Desert Bloom Inn." She informed.

"I'll go check it out with Rossi." Tara tells and begins to walk out of the room as Hotch's cell phone begins to ring again.
        "Go ahead, Garcia." He tells.
        "Mitchell Crossford was definitely the Alpha in the relationship. He and his mother left the cult compound when he was ten. They moved to Phoenix, where he built quite the juvenile record. Probation officers described him as cold, intelligent, and scarily manipulative. He had extremist views, and at sixteen, he ran right back into the brainwashy arms of the Heaven's Mission cult."

         "Where presumably he found a partner in crime in Theo." Hotch gathers. "That's how Theo fell in love with Tracy Senarak." Morgan adds.

        "Guys, Tracy rode the city link bus frequently. What if in addition to testing out his stock, Mitchell planted the sarin there to kill her?" Reid suggests.

        "That would make sense. He wanted his partner back, and there's a good chance that plan would have worked, however Tracy didn't get on the bus that day." Julia told.

        "I still don't understand how Charlie's involved." Colfax stated. "Mitchell witnessed the murder of Theo, realized he could turn Charlie into a patsy. Charlie obviously rides the same bus as his wife, so he already looked culpable." Reid explains.

        "If Mitchell is this manipulative, then he sent Charlie to the cabin where the dead chemist was found to make it look like he had committed the murder." Morgan stated.

        "And then he called in an anonymous tip." Hotch added.
        "Tracy Senarak said Theo's brother came in the office looking for him today. Why would he do that?" Colfax wondered.

        "To establish his innocence and an alibi." Hotch said.
        "An alibi for what just happened?" Colfax asked.
        "Or for what he's planning next." Julia said as she crossed her arms.

       "Hey, Garcia, what are Mitchell's specific views?" Morgan asked.
        "He felt the government needed to pay for what they did in Waco and to the FLDS prophet Warren Jeffs."
        "Well, that means the FBI is enemy number one." Morgan concludes.
        "He's coming here." Hotch stated.

        After gathering that, Hotch split the team. He and Reid joined Colfax in the parking structure where Senarak had recklessly drove into while Morgan and Julia were on standby.

        Hotch had walkie-d the two and told them that Senarak claimed that Crossford had his daughter. They'd pinpointed the van Senarak described and both Morgan and Julia had gone in with backup and both had met up at the passenger's seat window and shook their heads as Morgan spoke — "We're clear."

Morgan was quick to call up their superior. "Hotch, there's no one in the Van. It's a mannequin with a yellow shirt." He informed.

They'd lock the building down and nobody was leaving until they put an end to this and to try and find Crossford. Morgan and Julia met up with Reid, Hotch and Colfax after they'd checked the place.

"No sign of Mitchell Crossford in the garage, but he's definitely here." Morgan said.
"All right, Colfax, we're going to need plans of the building." Hotch told the woman.

They'd arrived back to the field office by elevator as Hotch got Garcia on the phone. "Talk to me. What's going on?" She started.

"Garcia, I need you to tap into surveillance and find Mitchell Crossford. He just drove here in a black Van." Hotch informs.
"Got it. I'm reviewing the security tapes now." Garcia told. "Ok, I got him. I got him exiting the van. He's walking to a parking garage elevator. He's got a bag in his hand."

They gather in the conference room as Morgan suggests that the bag he's holding could be more sarin ready to use.

"Okay. I'm trying to find where he went." Garcia said.
"We're running out of time." Hotch pushed.
"I'm moving as fast as I can. Got him. He's on the basement level. He's walking toward the west elevators."

"Colfax, I need those plans!" Hotch told.
"Pulling them up now." Colfax nods.

"Where did he go? I just saw him and I don't see him anywhere."
"Well, keep looking." Hotch orders.

Colfax walks into the room. "Okay. Here we go." She pulls up the plans on the screen and they look it over.

"All right, Crossford loves being a mastermind. He'd want to witness all the chaos he's causing. What's the best vantage point?" Morgan asks.

Julia examines it quickly. "He'd need something clear." She added.
"There." Reid pointed.
"We'll split up and cover each floor." Hotch nodded.

Julia had split up with Hotch and backup and she was lucky enough to witness Hotch put Crossford in handcuffs and read him his Miranda rights.

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           To say that Julia thought her first case was a success was an understatement. Although, it was sad about what happened with Charles Senarak's family and Julia couldn't help but think of her own family. She was just lucky enough that she didn't have to witness Charles reuniting with his daughter only for him to be taken away from her in an instant.

           They were flying back on the jet, Julia had passed by Reid, reading on the couch and sat at the end of it, hoping not to disturb him.

Julia had bit her tongue, wondering how to speak to him. They were both so smart yet the only time they could ever spew words out to one another was when they were working. Julia found it silly in a way.

"Hey, uh," Julia found herself speaking before she could even think of a question or something to say to him. "That whole thing about... the fish feeder and all that stuff — I take it you have a fish?"

Reid nods, "Uh, yeah, yeah, I do." Reid also seems to find it silly that this seems to be the first real conversation they've had by themselves. But he finds it amusing.
"What kind of fish?" She asks, genuinely interested in knowing.
          "A Siamese fighting fish," Reid nods. "They're also known as the betta, a freshwater fish native to Southeast Asia. They are a popular species in the fishkeeping hobby, and are known for their stunning colors, decorative fins, and tendency to fight." He explains away.

           Julia nods at him with a genuine smile on her face. "What'd you name him?" She wonders.
"Pavlov," He admits and Julia giggles at that. "Only because he seems to understand classical conditioning." He jokes.

"I am in no way judging," Julia stated. "I named my cats Einstein and Newton." Reid raises a brow. "Newton, like-like Isaac Newton?"

"The one and only," Julia nods. "I contemplated on naming him Crookshanks because he reminded me of the cat from Harry Potter. That's kinda why I got him in the first place."

"So, Newton's a ginger Himalayan cat. Then, what's Einstein?" He asks. "Ah, a Siberian cat. She's actually a little bit smarter than Newton, that's why she's called Einstein." Julia told.

         "You know, I was wondering why you put up framed photos of cats on your desk." Tara spoke as she walked away from the coffee machine and intruded on the conversation. Julia shrugs, "What can I say? They're my babies."

          Tara and Reid both laugh at that and Tara nudges her head to the book in Reid's lap. "A little light reading?" She asks.
         "Just, uh--I'm revisiting an old favorite." Reid nods.
         Tara sits in the seat next to the couch and looks ahead. "I take it you prefer Jung to Freud?"

        "Oh, absolutely." Reid nodded. "I feel like Freud gave Jung too hard a time for his interest in the paranormal."
         "Freud also believed that children are attracted to their own parents — in a very creepy way — so it's safe to say that Jung is actually the more preferred psychologist here, so to speak." Julia commented.

"What do you think of Synchronicity?" Reid wondered to the other two doctors.
"It's my favorite Police album." Tara joked, making Julia laugh.

"No, I mean, uh, events that seem significantly related but have no discernable causal connection. The fact that your mom and the Truck Stop Strangler's mom were in the same elementary school class really got me thinking." Reid explained.

Julia tilts her head as Tara asks, "How so?"

"I don't know. It's not odd that they were in the same class. What's really strange is that one would have a child who grew up to be a serial killer, the other would have a child that grew up to be an FBI profiler and that the two of you would meet someday." Reid explained.

"Gotta say, it's an extreme coincidence. And the irony is uncanny." Julia added.
        "Yeah. So, what's the take-away?" Tara wonders where Reid is going with this.

        "I don't know. Maybe the events in our lives were set in motion a long time ago." Reid stated. "There's an old Buddhist saying that, when you meet your soulmate, remember that the act to bring you together was 500 years in the making. So, always appreciate and be kind to each other."

         Julia could feel herself falling in love with this guy after that. "Reid, you really know how to make a girl fall in love. At least buy me a drink first." She half-joked and Reid chuckles as he looks down.
       "That is lovely, though." Tara nodded.

       "There's a corollary for friends. When you meet a true friend, you'll be bound together through space and time for 500 years." Reid stated and he looked over at Morgan briefly before he began to whisper. "Which means..." He clears his throat as Tara and Julia move forward, wanting to hear what he was going to finish with. "In the year 2200, I'm gonna get Morgan back for that practical joke he played on me last week."

        Reid chuckles a bit until Morgan speaks up. "Bring it, pretty boy. I'll be waitin' for you." Embarrassed, Reid's smile fades and he went back to quickly reading like he hadn't begun to talk to Tara or Julia and Julia chuckles softly at him as Morgan teases him.

       "I'll be there." Reid told and Tara and Julia laugh at the men and their friendship.

       Something tells Julia that things were going to be just fine and she'd hoped for more moments like these ones. But right now, she couldn't wait to go home, catch up on the latest soap opera, order a pizza all for herself and cuddle with her cats.

hey lovelies!
i hope you enjoyed that because this is only the beginning hehehe
question: what would reid and julia's ship name be?
i've been trying to figure out what it could be and so far i've come up with nothing 😭

thank you guys for reading
i'm so happy with how this is coming out
i was genuinely excited to put out a new chapter and honestly i haven't felt this excited about a book since the "cardigan" series 🥲

also
a good friend of mine esote_rika
just came out with a spencer reid fic loosely based on "practical magic" and i gave her the idea to write it 🤭
so please go and check that out or i will eat you🤗

anywayssss
thank you for reading again
and i love you all
-mya <333