ENTANGLED | CRIMINAL MINDS

Trouble In Paradise

The sun was shining bright rays of light as the team touched down on the tarmac and began heading towards the police station. "Agent Hotchner, good to see you again, wish it was under different circumstances" said Deputy Smith as he reached out to shake his hand. "Mr. Smith, this is some of my team, Agent Sanders and Agent Prentiss. The rest of them are on their way to the most recent crime scene" Hotch said seriously.

"It's a shame that this is happening, this murderer is getting away with killing men at the beach in broad daylight! I need to put a stop to this and soon before we have another body on our hands" shouted Smith. Hotch leaned his head back and gave an aggravated sigh, "Officer, please just give us a couple more hours. We're so close to nailing the unsub, we're narrowing down the profile and Reid is working on the geographical profile as we speak". Deputy Smith sighed and said, "It's 12:00 PM. You have six hours before I announce that we are starting a city-wide manhunt and shutting everything in this damn town no matter what you and the FBI try to tell me" and with that, he stalked away.

"Hotch, I can head back with Reid and help him with the geographical profile. Maybe two minds working together will get the job done faster?" Jean asked. Silence lapsed between the two agents as Hotch tried to make up his mind. As much as it pained him to have Jeanette work with someone else, he knew it was in the best interest of the case.

"That works, Sanders. We'll regroup soon here at the beach when we have a working profile, until then I'm going to stay here and scour the area with the rest of the officers" Hotchner said. He longingly watched her walk away, wishing that in another life, everything wouldn't be so complicated.

- - -

Back at the station, Jean was working on the profile, looking at the map placed in front of her quizzically. With her head turned to the side, she wondered what she was missing. She was so deep inside her head that she let out a loud gasp when she felt someone come directly behind her and touch the map. "Jeanie, this is the point we were missing. He takes the men back to a secluded area of the beach here, luring them in with the promise of seclusion and privacy because they're closeted gay men. Look at their files and what we've heard from friends and family. It all adds up!" he exclaims. He quickly realizes how tense Jean still is and leans in closer and gives her a quick hug from behind, placing his head on top of hers. "Jeanie, it's me, Spence" he whispered. With that, she quickly eased up and found herself leaning into him.

"Want to go grab a coffee real quick?" Jean questioned. Spencer nodded and together they walked out, him walking side by side next to her. They found themselves at the quaint coffee shop next door brainstorming their next move with a smaller map of the area they had brought with them to study. As they traded theories back and forth, Jean's hand resting one hand on her piping hot coffee and the other on the table, she felt Spencer's soft hand grab hers. "I can tell you're stressing, trying to picture what we're missing, just let your mind relax for a second. Let your guard down for just one minute, it'll be just what you need" he said, lightly rubbing his thumb over her hand.

Jean breathes in and looks into Spencer's eyes, shooting him a tired smile. As he continued to massage her hand, she could feel his leg under the table slowly wrapping with hers. She could instantly feel her pulse speed up. Who would have thought that Spencer Reid could get her heart beating this fast? She had tried so hard in her mind to pass him off as her best friend, but being in this environment with him, and seeing the effect he continually had on her, made her wonder if it could ever be more.

She cleared her mind and backed away from his comforting touch when she came to a sudden realization after looking at the map again. "Spence" she said quietly, a light tremble running through her voice. "That's where I left Hotch when we split up" Jean said as her eyes began welling with tears. "We have to go now, Spencer" she said, already walking out the door to round up the rest of the team and hop in one of the SUVs they had out front. Rossi took the driver's seat as Morgan took the passengers, Jean, Reid, Prentiss taking the three middle seats with JJ staying behind to try and manage everything going on with the press.

"Reid, I shouldn't have left him there. I should've told him that I'd help him out with the search" Jean said as tears ricocheted down her face. Spencer reached out and grabbed her hand in his as he said, "Jeanie, don't worry, he's probably fine, okay? Hotch can handle himself, don't worry". As the team pulled up to the parking lot at the beach, Rossi's phone began to ring. "Ok. We're on the beach heading that way. Do not shoot! I repeat, do not shoot!" he shouted into the phone. He turned around to look at everyone and said,"Hotch is being held hostage by the unsub. Turns out the unsub was a deputy in the police force and when he came out, his brothers in arms ridiculed and humiliated him. Apparently, Hotch was scanning the area with him and when he heard on the radio we were heading over, he took Hotch hostage and is holding him somewhere"

Rossi immediately split up the team into pairs and with that, Jean and Prentiss headed over to the area that Hotch was last seen and began heading north while the rest of the team fanned out from there. After almost an hour of searching nearby abandoned buildings, Prentiss came upon an abandoned beach house that had seen better days. The exterior was a faded blue that had been weathered and beaten on by the weather for years and years, the lawn was unkempt, giving the appearance that no one had lived here in ages. The one discrepancy was the front door that was swung right open.

Prentiss and Jean looked at each other and Jean took the lead and headed inside, gun raised and ready. They walk in on the palms of their shoes, careful to not make any noise on the old wooden floorboards. Jean motioned to Prentiss that she was headed to the basement and that Prentiss should go and check upstairs. With that, they split up and began to slowly scour the house.

Jean quietly tiptoed her way down the steep stairs to the best of her ability, her gun raised high and her flashlight gripped tightly in her hand. "FBI, David Matthews, come out slowly with your hands up" she barked out. From the dark shadows of the room, David came walking out with a smile on his face, as he had his right arm holding Hotch in a choke hold and his left arm pointing a gun at her.

"Ah, little miss Jeanette coming to save the day, I see? It's a little late for that. I am not having the very group of people who ridiculed me for who I am take me into custody. I'm going out with a bang and I'm not afraid to take your boss here with me" said David. Jean slowly lowered her gun to the floor and raised her hands up. "I would never have ridiculed you, David. These people in the South are despicable, rude, and homophobic. If you let Agent Hotchner go, I promise you, I will accompany you up North and we can find you a home where you will be appreciated, celebrated and loved for who you are, who you were born as. Take me instead, I'm going willingly, just let Agent Hotchner go" she pleaded.

David looked at her and he could hear the sincerity in her voice, tears falling from his face at the thought of finally being accepted somewhere. "Agent Hotchner, it appears this pretty lady here just saved your life" laughed David. Hotchner struggled against the bigger man to no avail at that comment and with this act of defiance, he pushed Hotch onto the floor and zip tied him there. Deep down, Hotch knew that fighting back at this point would only put Jeanette in danger. "Now, Ms. Sanders, I'm going to need to zip tie your arms really quickly so you can't escape and we can hightail it out of here. Any last words for the boss man?" he questioned.

David allowed Jean to get closer to Hotch and she leaned down and whispered into his ear, "It's okay, Aaron. I'll be back soon. Prentiss is upstairs searching around, she'll find you eventually" Jean said wistfully with a sad smile. As David pulled her away and began shoving her towards the exit door that was in the basement that led to the driveway, she began flashing him numbers with her fingers behind her back, first a 7, then a 0, then a 3 and continued on with the whole number. As Hotch began to repeat the numbers in his head to remember them, she turned back one last time and mouthed, "Reid". With that, she was gone in the wind.