i'll keep you safe, criminal minds

003. less intimidating

"Sheriff Robins." Hotch greets. "I'm Supervisory Special Agent Hotchner." He shakes the man's hand. "This is Agent Rossi and Dr. Reid."

"Good to meet ya." Sheriff Robins shakes each of the older men's hands while Spencer only waves.

"The rest of the team is at the Jenkins crime scene. Is Mackenzie Jenkins still here?" Hotch asks.

"Yeah. Yeah, we got her here. Come on." Sheriff Robins leads them through the station. They go into the room, looking into the double mirror and finding Mackenzie sitting in the interrogation room.

"Why's she in there?" Rossi asks.

"Said you wanted to talk to her." Sheriff Robins says.

"We don't need an interrogation room for that." Rossi comments. "Could've left her in an office."

"She's 13 and she just lost her entire family with the unsub still on the loose. Locking her in a room is just gonna freak her out more." Spencer says, giving the sheriff an incredulous look.

"Well, good luck getting her to talk anyway. Hasn't said a word since we found her under her bed." Sheriff Robins says.

Hotch goes into the interrogation room. Spencer and Rossi watch, noticing the girl curl into herself more at his presence.

"Mackenzie? I'm Agent Hotchner. I'm with the Behavioral Analysis Unit at Quantico. FBI." He says, sitting across from her. "I know you've been through a lot the past couple of days. We need to talk to you, see if you tell us anything about that night."

Mackenzie doesn't say anything, staring down at the table. Despite Hotch's continued attempts to get her to talk, she barely even moves a muscle.

"He's just making her nervous. That's not what she needs." Rossi notes, going to the door and opening it. "Hotch." He nods. Hotch gets up, the two walking out.

"She won't talk." Hotch says. "She might still be in shock."

"Reid, I want you to talk to her." Rossi tells him.

"What?" Spencer asks.

"You're... less intimidating." Rossi says. "You know, compared to the man who never smiles." Hotch frowns at the jab.

"Uh... okay. Yeah." Spencer says. He goes into the interrogation room, Mackenzie glancing at him for a moment before looking back at the table.

"Hi." Spencer softly greets. "I'm, uh... I'm Dr. Spencer Reid. I'm... I work with Agent Hotchner." He sits across from her. "We just... we need to know about-- about what happened the other night."

"I didn't do anything." Mackenzie quietly says.

"I'll be damned." Sheriff Robins mutters.

"We don't think you did." Spencer says, making sure to keep his tone gentle, not wanting to freak her out. "We just need to know anything you can tell us about that night."

Mackenzie fidgets in the seat, rubbing the back of her neck.

"I don't--" She shakes her head, quietly clearing her throat. "I can't." She mumbles.

"Mackenzie, it would really--"

"No." Her voice cracks. "No, I-I-I-- I can't do that." She whispers, rubbing her face.

Spencer frowns, observing the girl with sad eyes.

"Okay. We-- do you want to go back to an office? Not stay cooped up in here?" Spencer asks. After a few moments, Mackenzie nods. "Come on." He gets up and opens the door. Mackenzie wraps her arms around herself as she gets up and walks past him, out of the room. She stops when she feels his hand graze her arm for a moment.

"Do you have an empty room she can hang out in?" He asks the sheriff.

"Yeah. Yeah, I got one." Sheriff Robins walks past them, Mackenzie following after a moment with Spencer behind her. "You can hang out in here." He says, Mackenzie sitting on the couch. "She's gotta talk sooner or later." He mutters to Spencer before walking out.

"Do you... do you want a snack or anything?" Spencer asks. Mackenzie shakes her head. "Okay, I... I have to go work, but... but if you feel like talking, just... ask for me or-- or somebody else from the BAU."

+++

Spencer walks into the room, carrying a bag of Doritos and a water bottle.

"Hi." He greets, Mackenzie looking up from the stack of papers in her lap. It's been a few hours since he last checked on her. "Um... I-I know you said you weren't hungry earlier, but... but maybe you are now. So I-- I got these from the vending machine." He puts them on the coffee table. When he stands up, he manages to get a glance of all the doodles on the paper.

"Wow. You, uh... you're really good." He compliments, studying the small drawings, some having a lot of detail.

"Thanks." She mumbles.

"You know, we, um... we-- we talked to your school. Teachers, principal, other kids, everything." Spencer says.

"Why?" She frowns in confusion.

"It-- it helps us rule out any suspects." Spencer explains, sitting on the coffee table, making sure to keep at least some distance between them. "Do you, um... do you know of anybody who would-- would want to hurt your family?"

"Is this the same guy who killed those other two families?" Mackenzie asks, not looking away from the paper as she draws.

"Based on-- on M.O. and-- and some other stuff, we believe it is the same unsu-- uh... bad guy." Spencer says. "Did you know them?"

"We all went to the same school. Never really talked to them, though." Mackenzie says.

"Were your parents friends with them, maybe?"

"I don't know. Maybe. Didn't really keep track."

"Okay. Um... do you-- do you have any family that-- that we could call for you? That-- that could take you in?" Spencer asks.

"My mom was an only child. My dad's brother is in jail for drug dealing. I've never met him. He's been in and out since his late teens. Dad's parents died when he was a kid and mom's parents died when I was 7 and 12. So... no. Foster care, it is." She gains a false enthused smile for a moment.

+++

"We trust me to be at the hotel? Alone?" Mackenzie questions, standing in the hotel room.

"You-- you're not alone. It's just so you have somewhere comfortable to sleep at night. There's gonna be cops posted outside of your door, nobody can get in." Spencer assures. "And-- and you have a adjoining room to my colleague, Jennifer Jareau. She'll protect you."

"Hi." JJ kindly smiles at the girl she met briefly earlier in the day.

"Can't I just sleep at the station? He's not stupid enough to break into a police station, right?" Mackenzie asks.

"You never know." A cop remarks, the two agents giving him looks.

"Okay, Mackenzie, I promise, you will be safe here. Okay? My team and I won't let anything happen to you." Spencer assures.

"Fine." She mumbles, relenting.

"Here." Spencer grabs the hotel notepad and a pen before scribbling something on it. "There's my number. Just call me if you need anything." She nods as she takes the notepad. Spencer gives her a reassuring smile before leaving.

"I'll be right next door. My door's open, all right?" JJ tells her and she nods.