always you² | derek morgan. ✓

08 | adrenaline rush.

derek morgan.

"Are you okay, love?" I ask in a whispered tone, watching as Charlotte and Hotch walk over to rejoin the group for the briefing.

Charlotte doesn't respond — she just gives me a short, wordless nod. I furrow my brow at the sudden, cold shoulder that she's giving me — I rack my head with thoughts, unsure of what I did to upset her.

"Are we ready for the briefing?" JJ asks, looking around to the rest of the group.

We all just give wordless nods as Emily clicks a button on the laptop, connecting Garcia via video call.

Garcia answers, a wide smile spreading across her face, "Hello, my fine furry friends. What can I assist you all with? I have magical fingers and I'm ready to use them." She says, making Emily chuckle lightly at her remark.

"Garcia..." Hotch begins.

"Sorry, sir. What can I help with?" She asks.

Charlotte gives Garcia a warm smile through the laptop, "We're just about to start the briefing and we thought you could assist us with what we come up with." She states.

"So she does speak." I mutter under my breath, receiving a small glare from both Charlotte and Reid.

I give my shoulders a little shrug as Charlotte shakes her head, turning back towards the laptop, a small smile reappearing on her lips.

Garcia nods, "Whatever you want, sugar. I'm all ears to listen, and I'm here to assist with whatever you need." She responds.

Charlotte clears her throat, "I need you to try and come up with a general location where this unsub is targetting, and check to see if local p.d. has gotten to speak to any witnesses." She states in a low tone before glancing back over to me.

Garcia nods, "I'm on it. Anything else?" She asks.

Hotch nods, "I need you to find out what kinds of kids they're targetting. Do the kids come from rich families, toxic families, abusive families — whatever you can find is good with me — then, crossmatch it with other fires that happened in the past; maybe possibly fires that firefighters arrival times were later than usual." He states.

Garcia nods slightly, "You got it. Anything else?" She asks in a soft, light-hearted tone.

Hotch shakes his head as Garcia gives us all a warm smile, "P.G. out." She states in a bright tone, waving goodbye to us all before ending the video call.

"We could be dealing with someone in the foster system." Reid states, his lips piercing together as he looks up from his case file.

"What makes you say that?" Emily asks.

"All of these burn victims — they're all wearing some kind of watch. These aren't regular watches you'd let your kid wear to school, unless you have the money to get an immediate replacement." He explains.

"Why does that make him a foster kid? He was put with a rich family that didn't like him and only cared about the money?" I ask, glancing around the group.

Charlotte shakes her head, her brow furrowing slightly, "No, Reid has a point. This unsub is only targetting children from rich families—" She begins, but soon cuts herself off by connecting Garcia back onto a video call.

Garcia welcomes us all with a warm, bright smile, "That was quick. What can my beautiful mindfulness assist you all with?" She asks in a teasing tone, giggling softly.

Reid clenches and unclenches his jaw for a moment as he thinks, "Garcia, I need you to crosscheck the burn victims with their schools." He states.

Garcia nods, "Got it." She states, turning slightly as she begins typing rapidly on a keyboard.