timeless, spencer reid [ 1 ]

065. supply and demand

Derek, Spencer, Bedelia, Rossi, and Ashley are in the round table room. Penelope walks in and stops when she notices who's missing.

"Where's Hotch?" She asks.

"Any minute." Rossi says.

"I didn't get a file sent to me. Did a case go directly to him?" Penelope asks.

"Don't know." Rossi says.

"When's the last time he called a meeting this early?" Ashley asks.

"3 years, 8 months ago." Spencer answers.

"And what happened?" Ashley asks.

"Gideon left." Spencer says.

"Who's leaving?" Penelope immediately panics.

"Nobody's leaving." Derek promises.

"I appreciate everyone coming in early." Hotch says as he walks in.

"What's going on?" Rossi asks.

"The director called a meeting last night to discuss budgets." Hotch says.

"They skipped over Strauss?" Rossi asks.

"She's away." Hotch says. "The bureau is facing a lot of changes and this unit is no exception. Over the next few weeks, each of you is going to be asked if you'd like to stay with the unit."

"Why wouldn't we?" Spencer asks.

"There are other options for you out there." Hotch says. "And while I want the unit to stay together, I understand completely if you want to see what the alternatives are. Morgan, there's renewed interest in you from the New York office."

"Nobody's called me." Derek says.

"They will." Hotch says.

"That doesn't mean I'm gonna go." Derek says.

"Oh, I know." Hotch says.

"Are you staying here?" Ashley asks Hotch.

"It's my intention." He answers. "All I ask is if you are contacted by another division that you let me know." His phone rings and he answers it. "Hotchner. Yes. Right. We can be there in 20 minutes." He hangs up. "Virginia state police believe they've uncovered a serial killer. They need us at Zacha Road and Route 7 as soon as possible. Morgan, you and Dave get out there."

"What about this?" Rossi asks.

"We can talk about it later." Hotch says.

+++

"The only reason we have this case is because of an accident." Ashley says.

"You know the odds of that?" Spencer asks.

"Is that rhetorical?" Ashley asks.

"Combined with the chance that this is his first time dumping bodies." Spencer says.

"You think he's working alone?" Ashley asks.

"What do you think?" Spencer asks.

"Unlikely. It's high risk to move one body out of state, but 2?" Ashley asks.

"Paige was abducted months after having Jake in captivity. And he traveled with both, which means he's criminally sophisticated. It seems more like an organized operation as opposed to an individual offender." Spencer says.

"Then he's probably done this before." Ashley says. "You think there are more victims out there?"

"Impossible to say until we figure out how those two were targeted." Spencer says.