delicate • s.r. {completed}

• chapter nine •

The plane ride was short, Hotch having everyone continue discussing the case so we could get ahead. He seemed nervous.

You touched down about an hour and a half later, your surroundings familiar. You were in Pennsylvania.

You hadn't been home in years.

You all piled into two cars, you driving one and Morgan the other. You knew these streets like the back of your hand, but no one knew that. Well, Spencer did.

You arrived at the precinct, heading in and greeting the chief.

"Agent Hotcher. Thank you so much for coming." She shook everyone's hand, and when she got to you, you knew she recognized you. You shook your head a little, hoping she got the message.

"I'm Agent Y/L/N. Nice to meet you, Chief Davidson."

She smiled, her eyes holding all the emotion she couldn't hold on her face. Didn't everyone in your old life think you were dead?

"You guys can set up in here. Coffee is in the break room."

You followed her to a large conference room, two whiteboards on the side and files on the table. You set your bag against the wall, grabbing a file and heading over to the whiteboard.

"Do you have a map?"

The chief nodded, disappearing and coming back a moment later. She handed it to you, holding onto it for a second longer than you were expecting. You shot her a look. Not right now.

You taped the map onto the whiteboard, marking each kill location and connecting them. You heard everyone else that was here discussing the rest of the file behind you, but you tuned it out. You had to focus.

You noticed small consistencies with each of the kills, marking them on the map. You drew a circle around the kill zone you determined, looking at the map. You almost laughed. Everything was written in military shorthand, so only you would be able to understand.

You heard someone approaching behind you. You turned and saw Emily, and she was inspecting the map. Trying to decipher it, you assumed. She spoke after a few minutes.

"Okay, I give up. How in the hell do you understand this?"

You giggled. "It's all military shorthand. It's how I learned to profile on maps, and I forgot that you guys didn't understand it. It's simple really. The colored lines are something I picked up outside of the military, and each one signifies the locations of each victim before their murder. The numbers are the hour, military time. The numbers stand for each place they were at, street and actual place. The circle is the kill zone, but I'm pretty sure you knew that part."

She nodded along with your words, seeing the map differently. "Somehow, you make this look more complicated than Reid."

You laughed. "It's what I learned. It's meant to be simple, but complicated enough that someone who doesn't understand it can't figure it out by looking at it once."

"That's smart. Are you finished?"

"With what we have so far, I believe so. What are you guys working on?" You followed her back to the table, bank statements spread out over the table.

"We're finding a connection through what they bought. Well, we're trying to. They came from different parts of Pennsylvania, so it's harder, but it's a start."

You had an idea. You pulled out your phone and pressed Garcia's number, setting it down and putting it on speakerphone. JJ stopped what she was doing and listened.

"Hello, my lovelies, how can I assist you?"

"Hey Pen, I need you to check something for me. Where did the victims go to high school?"