EASY WAY OUT ¹ ➢ spencer reid

XXXVII

"I could go undercover?" I suggested. It was pretty late and while we were on a roll profile wise the plan to apprehend our unsub was anything, but solid. Almost immediately I caught Reid's gaze. He looked angry. I looked away, swallowing hard as I turned my attention to Hotch. "Think about it," I sighed, "this guy's cooling off period is done now. With the amount of rage he's inflicting on these girls he's bound to become desperate and devolve."

Hotch stared sternly, his warms crossed over his chest.

"Seriously," I pleaded. "I know Prentiss normally does this stuff, but she's too aggressive. She knows what she's doing."

"That doesn't mean he'll know." Morgan responded.

"It does though. These people role play all the time." I let out a sigh of frustration. "His victims are shy. He looks for girls of average appearance who are new to the scene. Prentiss is literally gorgeous. He'd be too intimidated by her."

Out of the corner I saw Prentiss hold back a smile.

"Hotch, I can do this." I stated.

He stood there for a while, stroking his chin as he stared at the floor. I could tell he was seriously thinking about it, which surprised me. I knew all too well I was too new to even be considered for undercover work, but that didn't stop me. I came to this team to do something, to contribute, and while working profiles and asking people questions was fine, I still felt useless sometimes.

"JJ contact Mary-Anne and Ingrid." Hotch dropped his hand from his face. "Get them to arrange a party for tomorrow night."

"Wh-what does that mean?" I asked.

"Prentiss, take Rafferty and come up with a plan of attack. The rest of you sit tight and keep in contact with those who worked the last event." I stood there, absolutely frozen as the rest of the group reluctantly looked my way. Hotch took a couple steps towards me, his breath heavy as we made eye contact. "We get one chance at this." He stated.

"I-I know."

"You sure you wanna do this?"

I nodded, swallowing hard.

"Okay." He seemed less than excited by my response, but said nothing else as he walked out. JJ followed quickly behind him, giving me a nervous stare as she mouthed good luck.

"I don't think this is a good idea." Morgan stated.

"You don't think anything involving undercover work is a good idea." Prentiss responded, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, because it's risky."

"Morgan, we're federal agents." Prentiss scoffed. I couldn't help, but wonder if there was some sort of tension there. The way they angrily stared at each other made the rest of the room visibly uncomfortable.

"Now is not the time to argue." Rossi sighed.

"Guys, I know this isn't exactly ideal b-"

"Isla, you've already been injured on the field once. What if it happens again?" Morgan asked, stepping towards me angrily.

The way he was treating me suddenly pissed me off. I walked up to him, crossing my arms over my chest as I narrowed my eyes. "Morgan, it's my job to save people's lives. If that means I have to suffer a couple injuries in order to that, I'll gladly take the hit."

He gave me an unimpressed look, shaking his head before turning on his heel and leaving the room. I felt horrible for being rude, but I knew sticking up for myself was the right thing to do. If I was going to make it in this field I had to prove my worth.