Catch-22| Spencer Reid

seventeen

"Yeah, it's really different," Grey affirms, looking at the crime scene photos once more.

She and Morgan had finished up at the M.E.'s office, and met with the rest of the team at the police department. They had spent most of the day setting up their office and gathering evidence.

They would most likely start forming the profile tomorrow, as usual.

However, the lead detective on the case, Morris Patton, didn't seem to be thinking the investigation was moving fast enough. He had been hovering over the team for the last few hours, making remarks about how slow they were being. Everyone hated it, but they tried to tolerate it so he wouldn't kick them off the case.

"Understatement of the year," Reid lowly adds, observing the same photos. He didn't seem all that affected by them, simply confused.

Why this Modus Operandi? Out of every way to kill someone, the unsub chose a 1500's torture device. Why?

Patton chimes in, uselessly adding, "Shouldn't we be adding more patrol officers to the streets? Maybe holding a press conference?" It was almost concerning how little he knew about how to handle the situation. Then again, that's probably why he called the BAU.

Grey literally bites down on her tongue, glaring at Hotch. She raises her eyebrows and flares her nostrils, making a face that mimics the phrase, "Do something about this before I do." She had been holding back for hours now, and it was starting to aggravate her.

"I think it's best that we don't contact the media as of right now," Hotch says, turning to Patton. "We only have one victim, and causing a stir isn't the goal."

"In all due respect, you're going to allow him to kill another unsuspecting person?" the detective asks, tilting his head in a condescending manner.

Grey clenches her jaw, stiffening her muscles to keep herself from responding. Reid easily notices, feeling the twitching of her left leg against his. He grabs her hand under the table and squeezes it a couple times, silently reassuring her that Patton wasn't worth her time. She sighs, agreeing with his wordless reccomendation.

Patton and Hotch seem to continue debating, though the rest of the team had started to tune out, each feeling the same way about him.

"You book a hotel yet?" Grey asks, looking to Morgan. She had requested that he do so a couple hours ago, and she wanted an update.

"Yeah, but the only one above three stars had three rooms available," he replies, "We're going to have to double up."

She quickly dismisses him, saying, "Nuh-uh. Nope. We're not doing that." Grey grabs her phone, standing up.

She normally wouldn't have minded, but she was already in a bad mood and didn't want to deal with the potential problems involving bunking with a coworker.

She really didn't even want to bunk with Reid at the moment, though he hadn't particularly done anything wrong. The combination of Patton breathing down her neck all day and the situation with her father was just giving her a desire to be alone.

"I already tried negotiating," he says, insinuating that calling wouldn't help, "They aren't budging."

She nods, saying, "I figured. That's why I'm about to book two crappy hotel rooms. If one of you wants to take a room, okay, and if not, that's fine too." She walks out of the room, holding her phone up to her ear.

"Seems like someone's gonna need some alone time," Morgan remarks, raising his eyebrows and suppressing a laugh.

"Agreed," Gideon plainly says, "Either of you going to take her offer?"