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SHE WAS LEFT WITHnothing but her thoughts and shitty cups of diluted coffee as her coworkers rummaged through the numerous reports of missing persons. Every once in a while either JJ, Emily, Morgan, or Spencer would come into the conference room and have Odessa confirm if someone was or was not a part of The System. Emily and Morgan pestered her the most by constantly asking what kind of traits and characteristics The System looked for in their candidates.
In truth, Odessa knew about as much as the bureau did. The System didn't quite trust Odessa enough to let her know the ropes and gears. All they trusted her with was the training of new candidates and leading missions. Being ranked at the top of all the candidates didn't get her as much as everyone presumed it did. But she assumed that they looked for people similar to Odessa, and that was all she could tell Emily and Morgan.
Eventually, the files they would bring to Odessa would become more and more similar—men and women who were good in school, had a steady career that they somehow lost, physically fit, attractive even. Odessa didn't quite understand how they were able to narrow their search of people, but the more often they came into the conference room, the more often their assumptions were correct.
This process went on for a few days. Odessa would confirm someone's affiliation with The System, and then Hotch or Rossi would hang their pictures onto the white board and ask Odessa to "fill in the gaps." She constructed a map of people, with her own picture at the center, which made her sad; but there wasn't time to be sad. She would form connections between various people and recall a mission or two of theirs if she could. But every time a new face was brought into the room, her heart grew heavier and heavier with guilt. She was frustrated beyond belief—the people she was identifying weren't the people they should have been looking for. They should have been looking for the conductors, the catalysts of The System, not the innocent people blackmailed into taking part.
Surprisingly, Odessa was able to manage the guilt enough to keep her composure. She was visibly upset, yes, but it never got to the point of her needing a break. That was until Spencer brought in a picture of the second best candidate, Lisa Hammons—known as Quinn to everyone else. Her heart sank at the idea of admitting that Lisa was a part of The System, but she had to confess. There was no other option—her face was caught on camera the night Odessa was arrested.
Odessa nodded with her eyes squeezed shut. Her throat burned with the threat of tears forming in her eyes as she held her face in her hands. It hurt to ruin everything for someone she once cared so much for. "Yes," she whispered as an attempt to keep her voice from cracking.
She abruptly looked at Spencer once again. He had a concerned expression upon his face, which made Odessa feel understood in the slightest. "I need a break," she said, fighting back the urge to break down right then and there.
