Agents with Kids (Spencer Reid x reader)

Part 29

In the weeks following the Reaper, the team had a string of intense, traveling cases. Your fatigue and nausea were mostly gone, but all of the hours the team was putting in were draining.

One morning, while waiting for your caffeine free tea to steep, your phone buzzed. A text from JJ read "No need to bring a go-bag today."

You had barely just gotten back from the last case. There wasn't any urgency in the text, so the time you had blocked off in your morning for packing a new bag was mercifully given back to you. You actually get to sit and enjoy your early morning for a bit.

"Case must be local." Prentiss remarks when you get to your desk.

"Ah, so there is a case." Reid prods her for more information.

"Calm down, genius. I'm just guessing. No word on when the briefing is."

Morgan grabs his mug of coffee and heads over to your cluster of desks. He leans by Prentiss's desk while the group chats idly. In the middle of Prentiss explaining/defending how she trims her own bangs so well, Morgan's head snaps up.

"What's the army doing here?" he frowns at the entryway. You turn in your chair to face it and see that uniformed officers are pouring in. Morgan storms towards Hotch.

"What the hell is going on?" he asks, but Hotch gives no indication.

"Guys," Hotch addresses the group, "This is Dr. Linda Kimura, Chief of special pathogens with the CDC."

She waves to the group, greeting "Hello. I'm sorry to meet under these circumstances."

"We need to get started." Hotch cuts in before anymore introductions.

You all file into the conference room, and by now JJ and Garcia have joined, taking spots at the table with the rest of the team.

"What circumstances?" Reid presses while they wait.

"Last night, 25 people checked into emergency rooms In and around Annapolis. They were all at the same park after 2 p.m. yesterday. Within 10 hours, the first victim died. It's now just past 7 a.m. The next day, we have 12 dead." Hotch explains.

"Lung failure and black lesions." Kimura adds.

"Anthrax?" Prentiss suggests. The suggestion sends a chill over the room.

"Anthrax doesn't kill this fast." Reid assures them.

"This strain does." Kimura says, her face pale.

"What are we doing about potential mass targets-- Airports, malls, trains?" Morgan asks.

"There's a media blackout." Hotch tells him.

"We're not telling the public?" Morgan, used to action, is clearly unsettled by Hotch's call.

"We'd have a mass exodus. The psychology of group panic would cause more deaths than this last attack." Kimura smooths over

"Yeah, and if it does get out, whoever did this might go underground or destroy their samples. Or if they wanted attention and didn't get it, they might attack again." Reid interjects

"Doesn't the public have the right to know that?" Morgan bears down, adding "If there is another attack, There's no way we'll be able to keep it quiet."

"Our best chance of protecting the public is by building a profile as quickly as we can." Hotch's voice is firmer than it already is normally, keeping a lid on the team's panic.

"What do we know about this strain?" you ask.

"The spores are weaponized, reduced to a respiral ideal that attacks deep in the lungs. Odorless and invisible. A sophisticated strain." Kimura explains