𝓶𝓪𝓻𝓪 𝓳𝓪𝓷𝓮 ➢ 𝓼. 𝓻𝓮𝓲𝓭

𝒻𝑜𝓇𝓉𝓎-𝓉𝓌𝑜

The team sat in silence in the conference room, listening to Mara's sobs from Garcia's office. They could hear Reid trying to calm her down and every few seconds she would stop but then choke on a sob.

"Targeting my friends," she hiccuped, sobbing. "I understand, he wants to hurt me by hurting the people around me but-"

She sucked in a breath as Reid tried to cut her off and calm her down but she was going off. "But my brother's grave? That's crossing the line, Spencer. He's the one that made him kill himself in the first place!"

"Mar, please," Reid replied, setting his hands on her shoulders. "Take a breath."

"Alex didn't deserve this, he deserved to rest in peace at least," she said, gripping Reid's shirt. "Alex didn't deserve what happened to him. This son of a bitch ruined his entire life, he didn't deserve-"

"Neither did you," Reid said, moving his hands to her face. "You don't deserve any of this. We're going to find him, okay?"

Reid pulled her into his chest and hugged her tightly. "We'll find him."

Reid returned to the conference room a few minutes later, his shirt wrinkled with tear stains on it. He sat down in his usual spot and sighed heavily, the team's eyes focused on him.

"He directly targeted her this time," Reid muttered. "Why?"

"She could be his endgame."

"If this is Paul Fox then he's not going to be easy to find."

"He stayed under the radar for the past eight years," Reid said. "He has precautions, he has outran us multiple times before so he has places to hide, identities to possess."

"He's a narcissist psychopath," Emily said. "He's not going to hide his face."

"But he's not going to get caught, either," Hotch said. "Once we figure out his final endgame, he's going to go out suicide by cop."

Mara suddenly came in, her eyes red and puffy from crying but she'd pulled herself together. She stuck a piece of paper onto the board, Reid getting up and going over to her.

"This is a list of everyone he could be targeting next."

Morgan got up next, grabbing the list from the board. "Mara, this is all our names."

She shrugged, biting down on her lip to stop from crying again. "You're the only family I have left."

Reid couldn't help but notice that his name was first and written the biggest. She was most concerned for him and Reid could tell. He was targeting people she loved and Reid knew she loved him.

"He's not going to come for me until everyone else I love is dead," she said to everyone. "On the bright side, I'm safe for now."

"The safest place we all can be is here," Morgan said. "There's couches."

"I'm going home." Mara said.

Reid grabbed her arm, furrowing his eyebrows. "What? No, you're not."

"I'm safe," she promised him. "If he knows we've figured out who's next, he'll move straight to me. I need to show him I'm not afraid. That we're not smarter than him."

"I'm not sure, Tate." Hotch said.

"I can take care of myself," she said. "No patrol cars, no friends staying the night, just me. You all need to be here. Safe."

The team only nodded, Reid the only one to shake his head. "No, Mara, what if you get hurt?"

"I won't."

"At least let me drive you home." Reid said to her.

Mara nodded and the entire team was shocked when Mara gave them all a hug, even Hotch. Reid and Mara walked down to the parking garage together, silence between them.

Reid knew something was wrong. Something was different but he didn't say anything. He only let Mara take his hand and squeeze it gently until they arrived at her apartment.

He started to unbuckle his seatbelt and go up with her but Mara stopped him. "You don't have to walk me up."

"Well, how will I know you get up safely?"

"I'll text you."

Reid sent her a look and she only smiled. "All you gotta do is trust me."

"Seriously?" Reid chuckled. "That movie again?"

They shared a laugh before Mara stepped forward and hugged the doctor so tight that he nearly couldn't breathe. After holding onto him for what felt like an hour, Mara pulled back, brushed a piece of hair from his face and pressed her lips against his in a quick kiss.

Reid was shocked but moved his hands to her face and kissed her back. She pulled back, pressing her forehead against his, tears falling down her face. He swiped the tears from her cheeks and met her eyes. "Mara, what is it?"

"Nothing, nothing," she replied, her nose brushing against his. "Just want you to be safe."

"That's all I want for you," she said before pulling away. "I'll text you when I get up there. Tell me when you get back to HQ."

Reid nodded and watched as she moved through the building and up to her apartment. It was until his phone dinged with a message that he got in his car and pulled away.

i'm safe
              ~ ac

He smiled at the initials, making sure it was personal between them. Ally Campana was her real name from their favorite movie. Something only they knew.