Gentle Epiphany // Criminal Minds

Chapter Five - Oceans

🪐 Daphne 🪐

We walk up the steps to Bradshaw College in Tempe, Arizona. It was warmer than I was expecting as I push up the sleeves of my shirt. Derek holds the door open for me once we park. "Thanks" I whisper as he gives me a nod and that charming grin.

"Anything for you Scoob."

I roll my eyes, slapping his hard chest before we follow after Gideon. I make sure to stick close to Derek. "No badges. I don't want to satisfy the unsub's need for attention by letting him know he got the FBI here." Gideon says walking down the steps in a hurry. He was always in a hurry.

"Try not to look official." He pauses to look back at everyone. All of them in suits of some kind, except for Spencer and I. He was wearing a tie and a dress shirt though. I on the other hand was in my favorite flared dark beige pants and bright rainbow stripped shirt. I didn't look much like an agent, never have really. "Try to look less official....you know what maybe just let Moore and I take the lead on this."

Everyone stands there looking at one another a bit confused on how to not look official. I can't help laughing, I try to quickly cover it up with my hand before I bounce down the stairs to follow Gideon. This was going to be interesting, I think.

"Obviously, I'd rather be meeting you under different circumstances." The Dean tells us as we match her quick pace down a walkway leading from one building to another. "This is fire inspector Zhang." She introduces the man standing in between all of us.

"This morning the chemistry department reported several bottles of highly flammable chemicals missing." He informs us, we reach the other side of the walkway, Hotch and Gideon both opening the double doors letting her walk through.

"I'm prepared to evacuate this campus...thank you." She nods as she continues on not missing a beat.

Hotch shakes his head, disagreeing with that plan. "That brings with it, it's own problems."

"You might evacuate the arsonist as well." Gideon explains.

"Then the case goes unsolved, the campus is reopened, but the fires start up again." Elle states behind Gideon.

Derek speaks up telling the two men to hold on as we all stop walking to look at him. He ditched his suit jacket and loosed his tie. He still looks official though. "You said the chemicals were missing today. It says here that one of the previous fires was set with diesel fuel that disappeared from the grounds keeping facility." Derek starts to mention before looking towards Zhang, "How long after it disappeared was the fire set?"

"One day." The dean answers him. She had a very Viola Davis voice. If they ever make this case into a movie they should hire her to play the Dean.

Gideon motions for Hotch to walk off with him as they start speaking I only hear the first bites of conversation, "If he's holding to a pattern...."

They talk for a few minutes before Hotch comes back to grab Spencer to look at Matthew Rowland and his roommates dorm room. The rest of us follow the Dean and Zhang towards the Admin building. Derek walks alongside me as I take in the campus view. As far as campuses go, this wasn't bad. I prefer Yale for obvious reasons. The heat here leaves little to be desired. I'm not sure I could handle living in a place that has a dry climate.

Derek starts rolling up his sleeves, "You would have been better off just taking off your shirt." I tell him.

A smirk cures his lips, "If you wanted to see me shirtless all you had to do was ask Scoob."

Wait...What....

I look up at him confused, his smirk still wide looking amused. "What? Eww no...I meant your dress shirt....taking that off and just wearing your t-shirt underneath."