the great war, spencer reid [ 2 ]

056. 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.

~ ~ ~

"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. Bedelia clenches her jaw so tightly her teeth might break. "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 sneers. "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."

Bedelia's jaw falls slack at the woman's words. She presses her hand against her mouth, silently reminding herself to not shoot the woman.

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

"The BAU is an elite unit. Your cases should play that way in the media." Barnes states.

"Who the fuck cares? How about we focus on saving people who need saving?" Bedelia retorts.

Before Barnes can open her mouth, JJ speaks up.

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

"Our job is to save people, not be your little models." Bedelia quips.

"Okay." JJ forces a polite smile.

Barnes leaves.

"Take that." Bedelia gives Matt her gun.

"Why?" He frowns.

"Cause I'm gonna shoot one of two people and Spencer will be pissed if I do either, especially if I shoot myself." Bedelia says, letting out a heavy sigh.

Matt shares a look with Luke while he takes the gun, moving it out of Bedelia's reach.

"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 your idea of a deep dive?" JJ questions.