EASY WAY OUT ¹ ➢ spencer reid

VIII

Surprisingly, Hotch agreed with me. As I spoke, he nodded his head, hanging onto my words. I tried to sound as professional as possible, feeling a little bit inexperienced since I mostly talked to Reid about everything. When I was done, he almost looked proud. "Let's talk with the others." We walked into the room and everyone stared. I swallowed hard, returning to my seat next to Morgan who kept his eyes on Hotch.

Hotch relayed my information. I watched Reid, glance between Hotch and I, his face expressionless. Hotch sent everyone to get in touch with Cecilia's friends, while he and I remained at the station. I felt a bit nervous being with someone new, especially him, but nodded my head when he called my name. Everyone filed out of the room, leaving the two of us and our files.

"So, what do you think?" I could tell he was testing me. I swallowed hard, retracing all the knowledge I'd collected over the last few days.

"If it is her I think it's some sort of revenge killing." I paced around the room, letting my brain sort of spurt out the words as they popped into my head. "Based on the fact that she assaulted her sister's rapist means she's mission-orientated. Once she gets an idea she sticks with it. She's driven. She doesn't care what happens as long as she gets the job done."

Hotch watched me pace, his expression never changing.

"What she's doing, I don't know," I sighed, "I think it has something to do with Cecilia though. The way she reacted to Brian's death was... weird." I glanced over at Hotch. "I understand that he did a lot for her, but he was her counsellor not her friend. She acted like... like..."

"A lover?" Hotch questioned.

At that moment it clicked. She was in love with him. I mean, teenagers fell in love with their male superiors all the time whether it was a teacher or a camp counsellor. "Oh shit." I turned to face him, covering my mouth. I wasn't sure if it was appropriate to swear in front of a unit chief. "Sorry."

He chuckled slightly.

"Okay," I continued pacing, "maybe they are lovers?" The thought grossed me out, but I pressed on. "What's that got to do with Regan though?"

"He was twelve years Cecilia's senior. He had a wife."

"She didn't like it." I responded.

"She saw it for what it was."

"That makes sense." I pulled out my phone, quickly reading the file that Garcia sent over about Regan's sister. I skimmed through it, trying to find a couple of particular details. "Her sister was thirteen when it happened." I frowned. "Dennis was nearly eighteen."

"So she feels like time is repeating." Hotch brought his hand to his face, rubbing his eyes.

"She's targeting pedophiles." I replied, a little too excitedly. "She probably thinks of herself as a vigilante of sorts."

Hotch smiled, really smiled. I looked at him curiously, a smile creeping across my own lips as I watched him pull out his phone. "You could give the rest of the team a run for their money if you keep this up." He put the phone to his ear. "Rossi, I want you and Prentiss to pay Regan a visit. Ask her..."

I zoned out after that, my heart soaring at Hotch's comment. I held in a smile, facing away from him. I felt my whole body jump with excitement, knowing that I'd done a good job. I felt like I was on top of the world and nothing could bring me down.

"Do you have Cecilia's phone number?"

I turned to face Hotch, raising my brow. "Hm?"

"Cecilia's phone number." He pulled a set a keys out of his pocket. "You and I are going to talk to her. Call her and let her know we're coming." He started walking out of the room.