willow, criminal minds [ 1 ]

028. last gasp

"Hey." JJ calls. "Is Ned here yet?"

"Oh, you mean lazy Ned, the anti-Penelope?" Matt asks. He checks his watch. "Uh, he usually rolls in around 11:00."

"You want to wait for him?" Luke asks.

"No. Barnes is giving us a half an hour and we're gonna need every minute of it to try and sell her on one of these cases." JJ says. "So..." She nods for them to get to the conference room.

"It's been two weeks since she took over." Luke says. "She can't keep us on the bench much longer."

"Let's hope not." Matt says.

"I'm sure she could. And if I can't shoot her, I might end up shooting myself." Molly grumbles, heading for the conference room.

"I heavily vote against that." Luke says as the two men follow her.

~ ~ ~

"Two male unsubs have robbed four banks." JJ informs. "In addition to getting away with nearly half a million dollars, they have left two bank employees dead. We--"

"I don't know." Barnes cuts her off. Molly quietly sighs, her hands balling into fists. "Bank robbers killing bankers? Let's look at this from the POV of the media coverage. Who's the emotional victim? Honestly, half of the country is going to be rooting for the unsubs. What else do you have?"

JJ motions to Luke.

"We think there's an angel of death working in Southern California." Luke says, showing Barnes the file. "The unsub is targeting elderly immigrants that live in nursing homes."

"Immigrants." Barnes says, Molly able to detect disgust. "That's divisive. We need cases that unite the public. I can already hear people asking why they should care about a dead Mexican grandma."

Molly's eyes widen a bit, giving the woman an incredulous look.

"Anyone with elderly loved ones should care." Luke says.

"You know, if you're racist, too, you can just say it." Molly says.

"I'm not racist." Barnes states. "The BAU is an elite unit. Your cases should play that way in the media."

"We don't care about the media, we care about making sure people don't die." Molly says.

"26." JJ states.

"I beg your pardon." Barnes replies.

"That is the number of people who have died since you've sidelined the BAU." JJ informs. "People die when we don't do our job. You--" JJ angrily smiles. "You need to let us do our job."

"Your job is to make the FBI look good for the public." Barnes states, standing up, speaking to JJ in the tone somebody would a young child. Molly's eyes roll so far back in their sockets, she's sure they could get stuck.

"If you would bring me an appropriate case, I would greenlight the investigation."

"Okay." JJ forces a polite smile.

Barnes leaves.

"Now can I kill her?" Molly asks.

"Yes." Luke answers.

"Ned, where the hell have you been?" JJ asks as the man walks in. "You were supposed to do a deep dive on victimology."

"I did. I made a victim list for each separate case with names, DOBs, last known addresses, employment, too." Ned says.

"That's a pretty shallow dive, Ned." Molly quips, annoyance and venom clear in her voice.

"That's your idea of a deep dive?" JJ questions.