Criminal Minds: Danika

Impala

Danika's POV:
I head over to Hotch's office and he closes the door behind me.

"Look, if this is about the rent-a-cop I shoved-." I start saying.

"It's not about-you shoved a cop?" He questions.

"No." I quickly deny and he huffs.

"You blacked out at a crime scene. You're clearly not ready to be out on the field." He states.

"I only blacked out for a few seconds." I counter.

"You had blood coming out of your ears." He reminds me and I know Derek must've tattled.

"That doesn't mean anything. And so much for having your partner's back." I mutter the last part and he stares me down.

Before he can rebuttal JJ walks into the room with a bad expression on her face.

"As far as the police are concerned, there is no open murder investigation. We have no reason to be investigating these three men if they're not." JJ states as Rossi walks in and gives me a weary look and I just furrow my brows at him, wondering what his issue with me is today.

"Well, they're right. All we have are three men who died in three very different natural deaths." Hotch says and sits down behind his desk.

"So, we just drop it?" Rossi asks.

"Dave, do you really believe we're dealing with someone trying to exorcise demons?" Hotch questions.

"It doesn't matter what I believe. Possession, mental illness, exorcist, unsub. Who cares what's true? People are dying. This isn't about religion. It's about evil. We attack it with analysis and diligence. For this Unsub, it's a fight to the death." Rossi starts saying.

Garcia comes in and shows us how the three men got together; through a support group. The week they were in Spain, the Services at the church were cancelled because the priest died of a heart attack.

"Also known as a possible blood clot induced by stress." I say and look at Hotch.

"Three's a pattern." I add and Hotch glares at me.

"There's a strong belief he was killed to interrupt services during the height of the pilgrimage. Their best guess is some kind of gas, Sarin or VX, or something that wouldn't show up in an autopsy but it could be anything that would induce stress, cause a heart attack." Garcia explains and I smirk.

"We have a motive and a potential MO." Rossi states.

"Without an invitation from the police, I cannot authorize an investigation." Hotch says looking directly at me and I smirk.

"You got it boss." I say and Rossi looks over at me confused.

"Why is she smiling?" Rossi asks, sounding nervous.

"I'll tell you on the way, I'm hungry." I say and walk out of the room before Hotch can officially order me not to do anything.

"We're still gonna investigate." I whisper to Rossi.

I walk down the stairs and see Emily talking with a guy with dark messy and thinning hair. He notices me and tilts his head, as if he's confused as to what he's looking at.

"On second thought, you might want to take Emily instead." I say and shove Rossi towards her.

"By the way, what's the name of the guy you talked to at the beginning of the case?" I ask.

"Pastor Jimmy." He answers and I nod.

"John Cooley." The man Emily was talking with says and puts his hand out.