Einsteine once said, "Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited, imagination encircles the world."

Veronica walked into the office of the FBI. She had a coffee in her hand and was ready to work. A smile appeared on her face as she saw Reid staring at a chess board. Veronica loved chess, it was another game that her father played with her. Hell they played almost every board game on the planet. And she was exceptionally good at the too.

"Check," Gideon stated moving a chess piece, "Checkmate in three."

The girl laughed and walked up and leaned over Reid's shoulder. "What?" He mumbled, suprise set deep in his tone of voice.

"Oh no he's right. He has you beat," Veronica laughed.

Reid spun around in his chair, "Wanna help me out a little here then." Veronica gave one of her famous smirks, "Tempting, but no can do. You have to beat him on your own."

Veronica could hear Morgan's laugh from his desk, he then too spun around in his chair to face the two young adults.

"You know you'll beat him once you start learning," He stated, a cocky smirk of his own forming on his face.

Reid's face shifted into even more confusion as Veronica set her stuff down at her desk. "Learning what?" the boy asked, clearly not following along.

"To think outside the box," Veronica answered, turning to face her case files. Just then Greenaway came from Gideon's office and called our attention,"Question."

"Shoot," Morgan replied instantly.

"The Footpath Killer, why did he stutter," the woman asked.

Veronica let out a snicker and shook her head, "Come on Elle, we've all asked him and he won't say."

"Oh Okay," Greenaway responded, leaning against a desk, "I'm up for a challenge."

Veronica opened her mouth to reply, but Jennifer Jareau beat her to it. "Good, because these go to you. Special Agent Jennifer Jareau, JJ if you like," the blonde said, putting a stack load of files onto Greenaway's desk.

Veronica let out another small laugh at the expression on the newbie's face while taking a look at the folders. She then looked up and shook JJ's hand, "Elle."

"Greenaway. Highest number of solved cases in Seattle, three years running. Speciality in sex offender cases," JJ finished.

Greenaway gaved a shocked expression, "Not bad."

"Well I'm the unit Liaison. My specialty is untangling bureaucratic knots. You'll probably be talking to me alot, my door's always open, mostly because I'm never in my office, so just call me on my cell okay. We'll talk," JJ stated as she walked away from the main office area.

However she never made it out before Hotch walked passed her. They shared a few quick words then Hotch spoke out loud, "BAU team, can you meet me in the conference room please? I need to show you something."

Without a second going by the whole team stood up and walked towards the room. It had a big round wooden table in the middle and chairs all around it. There was a televison screen used for showing details of a case and evidence boards in the room also.

Veronica was the first to enter the room and have a seat, a second later Reid had taken the spot right next to her. She gave him a glace and a warm, welcoming smile. He returned the gesture and then gave Hotch his full attention.

"This is from the Phoenix Office, Bradshaw College in Tempe, six fires in seven months," Hotch stated.

Veronica started flipping through the case file as Gideon spoke, "Who recorded it?"
"A student with a digital camcorder, he was watchin a fire in the bulidin across from their dorm. The other person you'll see is his roomate, twenty-year-old Matthew Rowland," JJ answered. After the statement she pressed play on the remote, a second later a video started playing.

The kids on the tape were laughing and smiling at the fire across the buliding. They were talking back and forth until it wasn't talking anymore. It was screaming. One of the boys was on fire and screaming for his friend to help him. Veronica shut her eyes for a second, when she opened them the video was over and she was met with the eyes of Spencer. "You okay?" he asked, concerned.

Veronica nodded her head, "I'm fine Spence."

He nodded his head, and the rest of the team left to get their gobags ready.

Veronica pulled out her phone and texted Danielle, letting her know she had a case and wasn't going to make it home. Even though she highly doubted that her roomate would even be there also, but that was just life as an FBI agent.

A few minutes later the team as on the jet and flying in the air. Reid was setting up a chess board and talking, "There are two common stressors for a serial arsonist."

"Loss of job, loss of love," Veronica finished, flashing the boy another smirk.
"When was the first fire set?" Morgan asked, typing away on a laptop.

"March. Uh, the next one was in May, and the third one wasn't till September, then two weeks later there were three in one night," Hotch answered, flipping through the file.

"He's speeding up, fire's are closer together," Gideon stated, leaning back in his chair.

Morgan never looked away from the computer screen as he adressed Spencer, "Hey Reid, you got a statistic on arsonists?"

As always the boy did have an answer, "Eighty-two percent are white males between seventeen and twenty-seven. female arsonists are far less likely, their motive typically being revenge."

"Sounds like our boy's a student," Morgan stated, still typing away. "Oh don't be so sure, you rely too much on precedent, you never allow for the unexpected," Gideon stated, "If he went from setting one fire to three in two weeks' time-"

"Rapid escalation," Veronica answered.

"He's gone from the power to damage a buliding to something far more satifying. The power over life and death," Gideon finished, shaking his head.

Veronica swallowed and looked towards Morgan, "Who we talking to first?"

"Dean of students, Ellen Turner," Hotch answered.

The girl nodded her head and placed her hand on Reid's shoulder, "I think I can beat you at a game smarty pants."

"Oh really? You're on," Reid replied with a laugh. The two young adults then started to play the game of chess.

It lasted the entire plane ride over to Arizonia. The game was tough and Spencer was a great player. But not better than Veronica.

At the last second when the plane landed she had put the boy in checkmate. "See. I told you I would win," She gloated, smiling like an idiot.

Reid shook his head and smile also, "You're cocky."

"That I am Amour, that I am," Veronica replied while walking off the plane. Leaving behind a flustered, yet again, Spencer Reid.

She could hear Morgan laughing while hopping off the plane as well.

Veronica climbed in the front seat of one of the FBI SUVs and after the rest of the team had loaded up, they set off towards the college.

Upon arriving the van had skidded to a stop, instantly Veronica was out of the car and walking alongside Gideon.

"No badges. I don't want to satisfy the Unsub's need for attetion by letting him know he's got the FBI here. Try not to look official," Gideon instructed, turning around and facing the team.

He stared for a second and then spoke, "Try to look less offical, Wayne is the only one who looks like a normal human."
Veronica laughed at the statement. She never wore fancy clothing unless need be.

She prefered her leather jacket, skinny jeans, and combat boots. It made her feel comfortable, stylish, and she could kick some serious ass if she need to. Veronica was trained in almost every kind of martial arts along with Danielle.

She was a strong woman, so strong that the FBI couldn't make her change her clothing style. Even if it meant she was slightly intimidating.

Gideon then opened the door and walked inside. The rest of the team looked at each other with bewildered expressions on their faces. This sent Veronica into another fit of laughter.

"You guys, just take off the jackets and you will blend in. Spence your fine with how you are," Veronica stated as she shook the laughing fit off and followed behind Gideon.

The team took her advice and by the time they were walking with the dean, the team looked like civilians.

"Obviously, I'd rather be meeting you under different circumstances. This is fire inspecter Zhang," the Dean stated, her and the team walking swiftly through the school grounds.

The inspector then took the chance to speak, "This morning the chemisty department reported several bottles of highly flammable chemicals missing."

"I'm prepared to evacuate this campus," the dean stated as the team walked through some doors, "Thank you."

"That brings with it it's own problems," Hotch stated, following the dean closely.
Veronica nodded her head, "You might evacuate the arsonist as well."

"Then the case goes unsolved, the campus is reopened, but the fires start up again," Greenaway stated, following Veronica's lead.

Veronica rolled her eyes at the girls words. She looked at Reid, who in turn gave a small helpless smile. "Wait, Hotch, Gideon, hold on a second," Morgan called out, making the team stop walking, "You said the chemicals were missing today."

The inspector nodded his head in confermation and Morgan kept talking, "It says here that one of the previous fires was set with diesel fuel that disappeared from the grounds keeping facility. How long after is disappeared was the fire set?"

"One day," the dean answered, looking Derek in the eye. Gideon then walked away with Hotch. Veronica wanted to follow, but something kept her with the rest of the group.

Reid tapped Veronica on the arm to get her attention, she turned around and he spoke, "Wanna go check out the last crime scene?"

"Of course," Veronica smiled. Spencer smiled as well and the two started off towards the last scene. In a few minutes the two agents were inside the room, Reid more so than Veronica, she was leaning against the doorframe.

"Door was locked," Veronica pointed out. Reid spun around and spoke, "Matthew Rowland and his roommate watched as the doorknob turned against the lock."

"But the unsub couldn't get in," Veronica fed, hoping to get Reid to think.

"So he pours the accelerant into the room from the hallway," Spencer walked through, trying to figure out what really happened that night.

Veronica nodded her head, "Which means he couldn't see the fire."

"But he could hear Matthew Rowland screaming," Reid stated, confusion filling his tone of voice.

"Yeah but not for long, he would have left quickly," Veronica contradicted.
Reid crossed his arm, "Yeah, to avoid being spotted."

"It doesn't make sense," Veronica stated, entering the room fully and standing in front of Reid.

"Pyromania as a mental disorder may just be a simple myth, but we do know from precedent that serial arsonists derive pleasure from pathological fire-setting," Spencer stated, providing facts as usual.

Veronica smirked, "Sex and power, two of my favorite things."

Reid shook his head and turned red from the comment, "But a serial arsonists wouldn't just set a fire and walk away."

"He needs to experience it," Veronica stated, getting back on track from the flirty comment that got the boy flustered.

"So why would he set a fire he couldn't watch?" Reid asked, clearly confused.
Veronica shook her head, "That's what we need to figure out my genius."

They left the room, Veronica first followed by Reid. The two were walking for a couple of minutes, they were almost back with the rest of the team when she tripped on a step. Right before she hit the ground, Spencer latched onto the girls arm.

In a second she was pulled upright. And then she was face to face with the boy, their noses almost touching.

Alarms went off in Veronica's head and she pushed back, "Thanks bud, you're stronger than you look."

She didn't even want to look at the confusion on his face, so instead she turned around and continued walking.

Her face was red and she very well knew it. That was an almost moment, and she couldn't let there be even that. She wouldn't let anyone close, she couldn't have romantic feelings.

It would end very badly, plus in Veronica's mind someone as smart as Spencer would be stupid to even show the slightest of interest. And on top of everything it was against the rules for FBI agents to have intamacy with one another.

So whatever moment Veronica thought almost happened she shut it down, she pushed it out of her mind.

Veronica had a case to work on, and that needed her focus. She took a deep breath and ran her hands through her bright red hair, then she wiped them against her pants. Reid somehow managed to catch up to her just as she reached the door to the main building they had set up shop in.

His hand reached out and grabbed onto the metal handle before Veronica could and pushed opened the door.

"Careful I wouldn't want you to trip entering through the door," Reid stated.

Veronica narrowed her eyes at the boy in front of her, "Oh, you're a funny guy."

"I'm just saying maybe I wouldn't be strong enough to hold you up next time," he shrugged.

"Are you calling me fat?" Veronica questioned, knowing he didn't mean it like that.

Reid shook his head walking off down the hall, "N-no not at all... I, um, well... You're clumsy is all."

The hallways was full of white tile. It was long with bright rectangular lights shining from above. The artificial type of lights that can only be found in places of learning and hospitals. The type that hurt your head if you were inside for too long.

"I'll have you know I'm not clumsy," Veronica informed, "I just have a bad foot, especially after I managed to break it a while back."

"You broke your foot?" he asked, turning to look at her, still walking in the process.

The girl gave a nod, "Yep, it was broken when Hotch hired me. Just now starting to feel back to normal, even with the metal plates that now reside next to the bone."

"How did it happen?" He questioned.

"That is a story for another time Carnio," Veronica answered, opening the door that led to the room they were looking for.

Reid gave a simple nod as they both entered. Inside the room were just plain chairs and tables. Hotch was there along with a boy who had dark hair and was Asian. He was wearing a blue collared shirt. Agent Greenaway was also present along with Gideon, Morgan, and the principal.

On the table was a brown box and inside contained three devices all burnt to a crisp. The man in the blue collared shirt opened the box fully as he spoke.

"He turned the water off just before the fire. The last three were set with these. Two devices. Simultaneous ignition," Zhang informed.

"There was no device used on Matthew Rowland," Gideon stated.

Veronica then raised the question, "Unsub set that one manually?"

"He wanted to be there to enjoy the kid's death," Morgan replied taking a look at the device Gideon had just picked up from the box.

"Not necessarily," Hotch stated.

Greenaway then shook her head, "Well, if the target was Matthew Rowland, then why set the other two fires?"

"The motives for arson are relatively simple," Reid spoke, "There's vandalism, crime concealment, political statement, profit..."

"And revenge," Veronica finished, shoving her hands into her jacket pockets.

"We interviewed Matthew Rowland's roommate. He said Matthew was very well liked. No reason for revenge," Zhang replied, looking up to meet Veronica in the eyes.

"What about vandalism?" the dean asked, crossing her arms.

Greenaway was the one to reply, "No, the fires are too sophisticated, and if he's trying to make a political statement, he's not being to clear about it."

"There's an underlying strategy in this case," Gideon stated, "Matthew, firefighters, injured victims. To the Unsub, they're not people. They're..."

"They're objects," Hotch finished.

"More like..." Gideon started."

Veronica and Reid then spoke at the same time, "Chess pieces."

"Exactly," Gideon agreed, giving a look to both Veronica and Reid.

Gideon then throws the burnt device back into its little cardboard box as he started to walk out of the room. The dean began to follow and as Gideon reach the door he called for Veronica to follow. Which she did with no hesitation.

She didn't know Agent Jason Gideon well, but she respected him. He was one of the people that started the Behavioral Analysis Unit, without him the job Veronica loved dearly wouldn't even exist. Without him the job that has saved so many lives wouldn't be a thing. He was well experienced and seemed to be back onto his feet especially after his accident.

Veronica didn't know much about the accident but she knew it wasn't her place to dig for information on it or to even ask Gideon about it. She knew what it was like to go through stuff, and she knew that she hated when people would question her about her past horrors. So, why should she question other peoples.

These thoughts pondered Veronica's mind as the trio walked out of the glass doors of the building they were just in. Gideon and the dean Turner were discussing the hotline the team were going to set up to hopefully bring people forward with information to help this case.

"You think we'll get a lead from the hotline?" Turner asked.

"No," Gideon replied instantly.

He had a way of being harsh with the truth. Not in a necessarily mean way, but just in a blunt way that could hurt someone's feelings depending on how thick their skin was.

"If you don't mind me asking," said Turner, "why then did you set up the number?"

"Well, serial arsonists enjoy manipulating authorities..." Veronica started, trailing off as she watched a student light a cigarette and take a huge puff.

Gideon continued talking, "They like to communicate, explain themselves. I'm not waiting to hear from a tipster or witness."

Veronica could hear the words of the conversation the two were having, but they just floated through one ear and out the other. Her eyes were still fixed on the guy with the cigarette. The air around it seemed to move. Like a huge heat wave.

"You're waiting to hear from him?" Turner asked.

"Yeah..." Veronica replied.

She finally took her eyes off of the boy as she entered a new building. The dean was a few feet in front of Gideon and Veronica was a few feet behind. Her eyes landed on her team member as he was pushing down on a water fountain.

Alarm bells sounded off in Veronica's head as no water came out of it. Some one has turned it off. The arsonist has turned it off. Gideon looked up and Veronica and they shared a look of realization and acknowledgment. Both knew what was wrong. Both knew what was about it happen.

Veronica ran to the fire alarm and pulled it. Both of the agents began to shout for everyone to evacuate the building as they themselves ran out. Veronica pushed herself out the glass doors and her eyes landed on the building in front of her. A second later the explosion happened.

People began screaming, shouting, and crying as the building in front of Veronica exploded. In an instant she took off. Gideon ran behind her as she crossed the sidewalk, pushing past the many panicking students. She ascended up the stairs on the outside of the building. Running all the way to the stop.

Gideon was hot on her heels and calling after for her to stop and wait. Veronica's ankle started to burn. It was the pain in her joints from her accident. It happened when sudden extreme movement occurred. It was only a light sting and barely slowed her down. Overall it was just uncomfortable and annoying. However, the screams from inside the top of the building made her push through the burning.

The door was slammed open by Veronica as her and Gideon entered the building that was on fire. She made a sharp turn down the hallway as the screams from the man grew louder. His office was on fire, and so was he.

The screams were unbearable to Veronica's ears. She had to stop it. She smashed open the fire extinguisher and with her elbow and grabbed it. As she was going to use it she felt to pairs for hands grab each of her arms. It made her drop the extinguisher in her hands. And then the screaming stopped. The teacher laid on the table, burning as if he was a piece of firewood. Veronica fought against the people holding her. She saw that it was Gideon and Morgan.

Veronica screamed as the two men carried her out of the building and down the stairs. She begged for them to let her go. She could have saved him. He didn't have to die.

The started to take her down the steps as Veronica finally broke free, "Get off of me! It was a teacher!"

Morgan grabbed her shoulders trying to steady her, "Let it go, Ronnie! He's already dead! Let it go."

Veronica pushed Morgan off of her and stormed down the steps. She started to cough as tears welled up in her eyes. The drops started to fall from the combination of the smoke, anger, and frustration.

Hotch, Elle, and Reid got to the scene. Reid's eyes locked on Veronica's. His face became concerned as he took in her face. Veronica wiped away her tears as the boy walked over to her.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

Veronica didn't respond as she pushed past him and stormed off. She didn't look back but she could hear Morgan give reason for her actions.

"She couldn't save him," Morgan said, "A teacher. Burned alive right in front of her and we had to drag her out of there."

She could feel Reid and Morgan's eyes on the back of her head as she walked away. Tears where still falling as she walked away. She continued to cough as she felt the heat of the fire get away from her. She couldn't stand to look at the sight behind her.

The teacher was dead, and Veronica knew it wasn't her fault. It was the Unsub's. However it still took a toll on her. She hated when loss of life happened. Especially in front of her. It always brought her back to the memory of her parents. And she hated thinking of what happened to them. She preferred to remember the good things.

She walked into the building that the team has been using as their office. Veronica passed the room that the team set up in. She knew they would probably be soon behind her and plant themselves there. Discussing and trying to put the profile together.

Veronica didn't wanna be there. As of right now she didn't wanna be around anyone. She needed her time alone. It's how she always was. Whenever stuff like this happened she needed to compose herself. And the best way she could do that was to get her mind straight alone. It was easier, and it also stopped her from taking her emotions out on someone else.

The bathroom at the end of the hall seemed like the best option for her. So she walked in and went into the first stall. Veronica leaned against the walls of the stall, putting her hand on her knees and taking in a huge breathe of air. It burned and made her start coughing again. The inhaling of the smoke was irritating her lungs.

She took a moment. Closing her eyes and taking deep breaths until it didn't sting as much anymore. When Veronica was satisfied with how much the pain subsided she exited the stall.

Instantly she saw herself in the mirror. Her mascara had started to bleed and her hair was now frizzy. She has straightened it this morning. Her natural hair was very curly and wild, so it made sense for the frizz to start coming out because of the fire. There was also ash smeared across her face and on her jacket and buttoned up shirt.

Veronica walked over to the sink and grabbed a paper towel as she did so. She wiped her face with it, cleaning up her smudged makeup and clearing away the soot on her cheek. Next, she took the ponytail she always kept on her wrist and tied her hair back into a ponytail. Veronica then took off her jacket and her button up shirt. Leaving her white tank top on. It was still clean from ash.

She gave a heavy sigh as she gave her cleaned up self one last once over before leaving the bathroom and heading back down the hall. The office room was still empty but stuff inside were moved and changed. Showing that the team had been in there but had already left.

Veronica sat down in one of the chairs and opened up the file. She examined the photos and the words on the papers. It was bugging her that something was missing from the profile. So far they were missing two elements. Sex and Power. Without that they couldn't figure out who was doing this.

A frustrated sigh escaped her lips as she closed the file and sat back in the chair and covered her eyes with her hands.

"Um," a soft voice spoke, "Hi."

Veronica lowered her hands and looked over to her right. Reid was standing there at the doorway. He was holding a cup of coffee in one hand and clutching his satchel with the other. He cleared his throat as he walked towards the table and set the cup down in front of her.

"Hi," Veronica replied. She looked down at the cup of coffee and then picked it up and took a sip, "Thank you."

"I figured you could have used it. Oh, um, and I also got you this," Reid said as he reached into his bag and pulled out a candy bar. It was a Twix.

Veronica let a smile creep onto her lips, "How did you know this was my favorite?"

"It is?" Reid asked. Veronica nodded her head in response and Reid spoke again, "Well, um, I didn't know. But now I do. I brought it for you because statistics show that after a tough physical exertion eating something with sugar can help calm any nerves your brain is sending off to the rest of your body."

A laugh escaped the girls lips, "You really are a wizard with facts aren't you, Amour?"

"Well I read a lot, and I have eidetic memory so I remember everything I read," he replied.

"Oh so Reid likes to read," Veronica chuckled, "How ironic."

"Do you not?" Reid asked, his eyebrows raising.

She gave a shrug, "I do. But i can never seem to find the time to actually finish a book. Especially with this job."

" Yeah," Reid replied, "That's another reason why I actually came in here to get you. Hotch and I are going to talk to some students in the science unit and he wanted me to come see if you'd join us?"

"Why didn't he just ask me?" Veronica questioned.

"I don't know maybe he thought you would shove him away," Reid replied.

Veronica shook her head, "And I wouldn't do that to you."

"Are you shoving me away?" he asked.

"There's nothing to shove away," Veronica answered, "Let's go."

Veronica stood up and walked out of the door. Reid followed behind. They went in silence when Veronica didn't mind. She simply just drank the coffee and ate the candy bar Reid had gotten her. It was a sweet gesture. And it made Veronica feel calmer that Reid seemed to care about her. Because even tho Hotch has asked him to come talk to her, Reid didn't have to bring her this.

Once they reached the building they got up to the room and floor they needed to be on. It was the fifth floor. The since room was filled with equipment and Reid instantly was fantasized by it all. Hotch and Zhang were already present in the room.

Reid had picked up a lightbulb when Hotch came up to him, "Reid. Since you're more their age, why don't you do the talking?"

"Why me?" he questioned, anxiousness rising in his voice, "Wayne is younger than me."

"Yeah, but you're the one with an eidetic memory, Amour," Veronica retorted, "So get in there boy genius and work that Spencer Reid magic."

Reid let out a sigh as he started to walk towards the group of students, "Ahem. Hi-- hi, guys. Uh, my name's, uh, Dr. Spencer Reid. I'm a, uh, agent with the-- the B.A.U., the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the F.B.I., which, um, it used to be called the B.S.U., the Behavioral Science Unit, but not anymore. They changed it to the B.A.U. Um, it's part of the N.C.A.V.C., the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime which is also part of this thing called the C.I.R.G., the Critical Incident Response Group, and..."

Hotch cut him off with a small chuckle, "What he's trying to say is we'd love to know how you can help us."

"May I please?" Jeremy, the only male student in the room, said, gesturing to the lightbulb Reid was holding. He gave up the object and Jeremy gave a nod, "Thank you."

He then held the light bulb upside down and gave all three of the agents a once over as he spoke, "See this? Drill a hole in the side, fill it with gasoline or whatever's good and flammable. Turn the light on. Boom. That is what went down, didn't it?"

A girl then spoke, "The stuff's all over the net. Wanna know how to make a molotov cocktail that sets itself on fire? Potassium, sulfur... and normal sugar. Sugar-- sugar, which is--"

"Not exactly plutonium. You could get this stuff anywhere," Jeremy cut in.

"Sugar from the supermarket," the girl chimed in.

Veronica crossed her arms and let out a sigh, "Well ain't that just sweet."

She heard Reid give a small chuckle as Hotch spoke, "But you don't need to be a Chem major to know that."

"Do you think it's a chem student?" Zhang asked.

"Do you wanna know what I think," Jeremy replied holding the light bulb up to his forehead, "It would be a good time to take a semester off."

He hands the light bulb back to Reid and then starts to leave the classroom just as Veronica does. Something was now tugging at the back of her mind after the meeting and she didn't know exactly what it was. Reid and Hotch also followed behind her.

Veronica gets into the elevator just as Jeremy speaks, "Hold on. You need a key to get it moving after ten P.M."

"That's inconvenient," Veronica huffed.

Hotch entered the elevator and looked to the student, "So what are you still doing here?"

"I came in to work on other projects," Jeremy answered, "You know how to solve the three body problem?"

Reid nodded his head yes with a smile plastered on his face.

Veronica rolled her eyes, "Of course you do."

"Computing the mutual gravitational interaction between the earth, sun, and moon," Jeremy stated, pushing the button on the elevator.

By the time the trio of agents had gotten back to their makeshift office the hotline had been called by the Unsub. Gideon had been asking for the recording Garcia had sent over to be played over and over again. He was trying to figure something out and Veronica was getting annoyed.

After a couple of minutes of hearing the same recording over and over she finally got tired of it. All it said was "Karen. I do this for Karen." in a distorted voice. Veronica knew that while it meant a great deal to the profile, she knew that what was bothering her also did.

"I'm gonna take a walk," Veronica said as she stood up, "Something about all of this is bothering me and I think a walk around campus might help me figure it out."

"Okay," Hotch replied, "Just be safe and don't take too long."

Reid then piped up, "Do you need anyone to go with you?"

"No I'll be fine, Amour," she replied, walking out the door.

Veronica set out on the campus. It was nice and quiet. With a bunch of students either afraid or leaving it meant not a lot of them were out past dark. Which suited Veronica just fine.

She liked being alone, and sure while she had Morgan at work and Danielle while she wasn't at work, she still didn't mind being alone. It was good for her thoughts. and no one she cared about could get hurt. Being alone helped her control her emotions and let her work through the troubles going on in her mind.

Pondering the profile Veronica and her team have created she managed to wonder into one of the buildings, stopping to stare at the board in front of her. It caught her eye because the board was displaying the same problem Jeremy had mentioned just a little while earlier: The three body problem.

A door then opened and Veronica jumped as she turned towards the noise, her hand instinctively going to her gun. However it was just a boy, wearing dark shorts and a yellow collared shirt, he was campus patrol.

"Hey, I didn't scare you did I?" he asked, "I'm sorry. This is one of my buildings on patrol."

"You're good sunshine. I was just looking at the board. The three body problem," Veronica replied looking back and forth between the boy and the display, "You know what it means?"

"Uh, no. No idea," he answered.

Veronica let out a laugh, "It's physics. It's one of the great mathematical mysteries. Or so my coworker told me. Wouldn't stop talking about it."

"Well that's interesting to know," he replied, placing a hand on his neck and then quickly putting it down again.

"Lost a necklace?" Veronica asked. At the boy's wide eyed expression Veronica explained further, "You grabbed at your neck like you were going to readjust a necklace, but then you realized it wasn't there. People do it all the time with jewelry they wear regularly that goes missing."

"No, I, um, gave it back to my ex girlfriend. I just broke up with her," the guy said, "I kinda wanna date someone else."

"What's her name?" Veronica asked.

"Brian," he answered.

Veronica let out a whistle and then a laugh, "Well that's a pretty damn good reason. Did she take it alright?"

"Yeah... Yeah, other than telling me homosexuality's a sin and that I'm going to incur the wrath of God," he sighed.

"Oh don't sweat that. My best friend is Bisexual, and she believes that God will love you no matter what," Veronica replied, "The wrath of God."

Suddenly it hit her. It hit her like a ton of bricks falling out of the sky. She knew what she was missing. And before she knew it she was taking off into a sprint down the hallway and out of the building.

She ran all the way across campus back towards where her team was located, hurriedly going through the building and then bursting into the room.

"Charown," Veronica breathed.

Her entire team looked at her with a puzzling look. She was huffing for air as she said the name. And her ankle was now throbbing.
"Charown?" Reid questioned, looking at the girl with a puzzled expression.

Veronica nodded her head as she sat down in a chair, "Charown. I do it because of Charown."

"That's Hebrew," Reid stated.

Gideon handed Veronica a cup of water as she continued to speak, "It's God's word in anger."

"Yeah," Reid agreed, handing Veronica the marker he was holding.

She then began writing as Greenaway entered holding a stack of different meals.

"The motive is now religious?" she asked, handing out the food.

"Well you know, in a lot of religions, God is related to fire," Reid informed, studying what Veronica was writing on the board.

Hotch nodded his head, "Well, Brahman is fire in Hinduism, and the Jews see God as a pillar of fire, and Christians worship God as a consuming fire."

"Okay so we're looking for a theology major?" Morgan questioned, "Maybe he's punishing the other students for their sins."

Greenaway handed out the last two containers to Veronica and Reid. Reid looked down at his in disgust.

"I don't want this," He stated.

Veronica then spun in her chair and held out her food, "Here trade me."

They swapped containers and Reid gave a smile, "Thanks."

"Don't sweat it," she replied.

"What's the most sinful place on campus?" Elle asked.

Morgan gave a chuckle, "Oh come on Elle. When I was in college, that was everywhere."

"Gross," Veronica gagged, "In like what a Fraternity?"

"A campus bar?" Greenaway asked.

"No," Hotch answered, "Because that's not consistent with the previous targets."

Morgan then added, "What about the idea of baptism by fire? Aren't we all supposed to be tested by fire in Revelations?"

"Look, it's good. It's good, but let's not jump to conclusions," Gideon said, taking the marker from Veronica, "Religion might be apart of it, but it's not necessarily the prime compulsion."

"Gideon," Morgan huffed, "Rush to conclusions, jump to conclusions. Who cares?"

"We are running out of time," Greenaway sighed.

"Compulsion," Reid said, narrowing his eyes at the board.

Reid then walked over to the computer and sat down. A second later he was playing the recording of Matthew's death. Veronica rolled her chair over next to Reid. She knew what he was doing. Something about the video triggered his brain and he was now going to analyze the video until he could figure out what it was. And Veronica had the same itch in her brain.

The video played over and over again. Stopping and playing. Stopping, rewinding, and playing again. Veronica had the last words of Matthew and his friend memorized in her head. They had been looking at the video for a long while. The rest of the team slowly vanished from the room, following different leads.

Veronica's eyes felt like they were gonna fall out of her head. She stood up, walked across the room and filled up two glasses of water. She then walked back to the computer and handed one to Reid.

"Thank you," he said, his lips going into a tight smile.

He turned his head back to the screen. Veronica looked at him. She noticed how his lips curled tightly as he focused and his eyes zipped back and forth across the screen as he kept looking at the video. His strong jawline clenched tight with focus and he would move closer and closer to the screen without even realizing it. His short brown hair had gotten slightly more messy as the day had gone on. He was cute in a way.

Veronica let out a sigh and forced herself to look away from her coworker and to look at the whiteboard in front of her. She picked up the marker and stared at what she had written earlier.

"Outside the box," Reid mumbled.

"It's hard to get outside the box when you don't even know where the box is," Veronica commented.

She then erased all she had on the board and then rewrote the word fire. She heard the chair move and Reid stood up and walked over to where Veronica stood. When he stopped walking he was standing so close that their arms were touching. The skin on skin contact made Veronica's heart beat start to quicken.

Luckily the contact didn't last long as she heard the door open and she managed to take an unnoticeable step back from Reid.

Gideon was at the door, "Keep thinking. It's like chess. Don't look at just the next move. Try to look three moves ahead."

The door closed and Gideon was gone. Veronica narrowed her eyes at the door pondering what Gideon had just said. And then she started to laugh.

Reid snapped his head towards her direction and gave her a bewildering look, "What's so funny?"

"What's funny," Veronica shared, "Is that this case is the most times I have ever seen or heard the number three be present. It's getting a little ridiculous at this point."

Reid's eyes widened in realization. He walked back over to the computer and rewinded the video for the final time. Veronica watched as well. Upon one last inspection the two noticed the door handle. It turned.

"Three times," both agents said in unison as they turned to face each other, smiles plastered across their faces.

Reid and Veronica then began putting the evidence to back their new found theory together. It was a compulsion. The Unsub had to do things in threes. They had to. Veronica found out that Professor Wallace's room was number three and Matthew had his class on Tuesdays at three o'clock. It was another pattern of threes that connected two victims to different fires.

They called the team back into the office room and Reid began speaking, "We know why the profiles never fit. You were right to tell Morgan not to rely on precedent. The fired thus far have been completely task oriented."

"So once they're set, the Unsub is done?" Hotch asked.

"Exactly," Veronica answered, "It is not a classical serial arsonist. He's someone who used fire because of a completely different disorder."

"Which is?" Gideon questioned.

Reid gave the answer, "An extreme manifestation of OCD, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, He does everything in threes."

"And if we're right," Veronica said, "He will have to kill again."

"There's a form of OCD called Scrupulosity," Reid informed.

"Religious obsession and compulsion," Gideon agreed.

Veronica nodded, "An obsessive fear of committing sin, which creates so much anxiety that he's compelled to do something to ease that anxiety."

"Like setting fires," Hotch added.

Gideon shook his head, "Where's the behavioral evidence?"

"Right here," Reid answered going over to the computer and playing the video again zooming in on the doorknob as he spoke, " All right. Remember the night of the three fires? We saw the doorknob turning against the lock. But he's not trying to get in. He's compelled to turn the doorknob 3 times."

"Well, what about the fires? The first ones were single fires. If the unsub was OCD, shouldn't they have all been in threes?" Gideon questioned, still not fully convinced.

Veronica then spoke, "They were in threes. A trinity of threes. The first fire occurred on March third."

"Three PM. Third day, third month," Gideon replied.

Reid nodded his head excitedly, "It's that convergence of threes that causes the overwhelming anxiety. Obsessive compulsives ease the anxiety by performing the compulsion."

"What about the other fires," Hotch asked, "Professor Wallace?"

"Office number three. We checked for more patterns of threes. His class was on Tuesdays," Veronica informed.

"Third day of the week," Hotch commented.

"Matthew Rowland was in that class. It was his third class of the day. If we looked into each of the fires we'd find a lot of patterns having to do with threes because our minds are incredibly adept at seeking out patterns. But to the unsub, once that pattern hits--" Reid then snapped his fingers, "Bam! He sets a fire."

"But if the target was always people, why did no one die in the first few fires?" Hotch asked.

Veronica then gave an answer, "They were failures. Up until Matthew Rowland."

Hotch then looks out the window and Gideon notices, "What is it?"

"I think I know who it might be," Hotch replied, "And it's not a he. It's a she."

Gideon pulls out his phone and dials the dean, asking about the girl. While Reid, Hotch, and Veronica continued working through this. They had figured out that it had to be Clara, one of the girls from the science department. Greenaway and Morgan headed over to her apartment and started sending information over.

"When I was talking to her and her classmates, I noticed something-- a ring on her finger. And she kept turning it," Hotch informed.

"At intervals?" Reid asked.

"Oh three," Hotch answered.

Veronica then felt something click in her brain, "Yeah and she counted off the ingredients of the light bulb bomb. Potassium, sulfur, and normal sugar."

"And the word sugar," Reid suggested.

"Yeah. And she kept repeating it," Veronica agreed, "Once she started, she couldn't stop. Something about that conversation had been bothering me and I guess this was it."

Reid then stood up from his chair, "Yeah, it's palilia. It's the involuntary repetition of words. Howard Hughes had it when his OCD worsened."

"Clara and her classmates were working on a project about gravitational pull," Hotch informed.

Veronica looked at Gideon, "The three body problem."

Reid then shifted the focus to her religious aspect of it all, "Moloch was the demon sun god of the Canaanites. In order to keep from incurring his wrath, the people would sacrifice their children to him by burning them alive."

Hotch then walked over to the printer and looked at the information on the page, "sixteen-year-old survives inferno. The mother Ellen Hayes called it a miracle. 'My daughter was tested by God. He tested my child and she came through blessed.' Look at the house number."

He showed the photo and it was of a burnt down building. The number being three threes.

"three three three," Gideon sighed.

Turner the walked into the room, "Security is checking the science building."

"Well where else would she be?" Gideon asked.

Reid then walked back over to the computer, "We need to find the next pattern of threes."

Veronica looked away from the boy as she heard Morgan's voice over Hotch's cellphone, "There must be thirty nomads bombs in here."

"Morgan," Hotch said into the cellphone, "Seal the building get everybody out of there and walk away."

"We need to send our people into every building and have them start pulling fire alarms," Gideon ordered, "Please. Go."

Gideon then took a map out and handed it to Reid, "Reid, a map of the campus. We need to find anything and everything having to do with the number three. Where's the blueprint?"

He then went to leave but Hotch stopped him, "Jason, wait. Wait, wait, wait, wait. Clara Hayes is very likely a good person. Someone who never wanted to do anyone any harm, like any other rational person. But there's nothing rational about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder."

"Research suggests OCD involves problems in communication between the frontal of the brain and the orbital cortex. Plus deeper structures. The basal ganglia," Reid stated, his words going a hundred miles a minute.

Veronica knew what they were saying and by Gideon's confused expression on his face she decided to rip the bandage off, "You can't reason with her because you can't reason with a physiological problem. She's not setting these fires because she wants to, but because she has to."

"What are you trying to say?" Gideon asked.

"Don't try to convince her to stop," Hotch answered, "Because you won't be able to."

Gideon didn't give a reply. He simply nodded his head and then left the room. Hotch and Veronica followed as Reid stayed behind, giving her a small wave as she went.

Veronica decided to stay with Hotch as they began running throughout the campus. They went the same path and tag teamed the buildings on each stretch of sidewalk. Veronica took the left and Hotch took the right.

Veronica stopped running for a moment as she heard Hotch's cell phone ring. He let out a huge huff of air as he answered it.

After a moment of silence and listening to the other end Hotch spoke, "Security's sure that they've cleared the science building."

"Hold on," Veronica said, "Jeremy."

"They key he had to operate elevators after hours," Hotch agreed.

The pair gave each other a nod as they took off towards the science building. Students that were evacuating now started to crowd the streets. Veronica could feel her ankle start to burn again. However her pace did not slow. She kept up in almost perfect line with Hotch as they found the science building.

Hotch entered first, drawing his gun. Veronica followed suit taking out her weapon. They went up stairs to the third floor. As they reached the top screaming from three different people could be heard. And Veronica could also hear Clara praying.

Hotch turned the corner, "Clara."

She snapped her head towards the two. She was on her knees holding a torch and rocking back and forth, "I have to do this."

"You know it's not rational, Clara. You were trying to tell me," Hotch reasoned.

"God chose me to be tested, and now he's chosen them. If I don't do this, something terrible will happen," Clara protested.

Veronica didn't know why Hotch was trying to talk her down after he and Veronica told Gideon not to. However she knew she had to follow his lead, "What's gonna happen, Clara? A flood? An earthquake? You know this isn't rational."

"I know. I know. I know," She repeated.

Hotch took a step closer lowering his weapon, "Then resist."

"They must be tested," Clara breathed, "God's wrath..."

Hotch shook his head, "Clara, you told me it was a chemistry student. You left the message about Charon. You want to stop."

"Father, Son," Clara started to chant.

"Clara," Veronica warned.

"Holy Ghost," the girl said.

Hotch then began to shout, "Clara, stop!"

"God chose them," She finished, going for the elevator with her torch.

Veronica pointed her gun and in a split second fired. The bullet hit Clara's leg and she fell to the ground. Gideon entered the hallway from the opposite end of Hotch and Veronica just as the torch dropped to the ground and began to roll. Gideon rushed forward and stepped on it. Extinguishing the flame.

"I thought you said not to reason with her?" Gideon huffed, a small smile on his face.

Veronica let out a breathe as she walked over to Clara and put handcuffs on her. She then stood her up and walked her out of the building. The walk was slow as Clara was limping from the gunshot wound.

After handing Clara off to an officer outside the door, Veronica and her team finished up the case. Mainly just receiving thanks from people and replying that they were just doing their jobs.

Eventually the team made it back to the plane and Veronica found a seat next to the window. She winced in pain as her ankle felt like it wanted to fall off.

She had only been out of her boot for a couple of weeks, and after months of being in different types of casts, her ankle was not fully used to having pressure on it. Especially pressure from running.

A bag of ice was then placed in front of her, causing Veronica to be pulled from her thoughts and look up. Reid was standing there with a small smile on his face.

"What's this for?" she asked.

Reid swallowed, "Your foot. I noticed you were very slightly limping when we were walking back to the plane. Figured you should ice it because studies show it helps."

"You just observe and know everything don't you?" she asked.

"I mean it's my job," he answered.

Veronica let out a laugh and motioned for him to sit. She took the ice and placed it on her ankle, giving a sigh of relief. It was going to be a nice flight back home. And Veronica was tired.