T W E N T Y N I N E

SCOUT SIGHED DEEPLY as she sat down on the dirty floor of the abandoned room.

After her most recent case closed and she arrived in Virginia, Xander sent her a text directing her to an old apartment building. It was located directly across the street from the park she would take Sumo for walks all the time.

He sent her directions to walk to the park and to look as discreet as she possibly could. So she donned her usual all black clothes and large hoodie, covering her face as much as she possibly could. Xander made sure to bug the street security cameras, claiming that her identity was the only thing keeping her mother and herself safe.

And so, Scout sat waiting in an abandoned and empty apartment room that he had texted her to wait with her sniper rifle resting as her side. She grabbed her phone and dialed his number.

"What?" Xander answered, sustain laced in his tone.

"What am I waiting for?"

"An alien invasion." He responded sarcastically. "What the hell do you think you're waiting for?"

"I don't know, that's why I'm asking you, smart ass."

"You're waiting for my orders and that's it. Did you set up your gun?"

Scout rolled her eyes, grateful that he couldn't see her, "Am I an idiot?"

"Of course you are, but you're a good shot. I tolerate your dumbness as long as you don't infect me."

"Oh, har har har. I bet you have ladies falling at your feet all the time with your humor. Actually, I think you don't have ladies." She gasped in an over exaggerating tone. "Are you a virgin?"

Scout could hear Xander grinding his teeth over the cell phone, "Set up the gun at the window."

"Aye aye, captain." She reposition the rifle so that it was peeking out slight from the open window. It was cloudy out so she was grateful that it wouldn't stick out to the people at the park.

But a part of her hesitated. Would she have to kill someone? Could this be connected with her work at the BAU? Scout shook her head and leaned back.

"I'm not going to kill anyone." She stated, matter of factly.

"I haven't even told you what you're doing." Xander said. "Put me on speaker."

And she did so.

"Then what exactly do you want me to do?"

"See that cardboard box down by the tree?" Scout looked the scope of the rifle and saw the box. It looked like a delivery package, but beaten up and taped together.

"Yeah. What about it?"

"Its time for some target practice."

She narrowed her eyes at the box, "There aren't puppies hidden inside there? A newborn baby?"

"Just how sick do you think I am?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?"

"If you want to keep your head on your body, then I suggest you shut your mouth. Now hurry, shoot the box and listen to me carefully. If you fuck any of this up then I'll have to let the guy above me know." Xander sneered. "And you don't want them getting involved, trust me."

Scout felt a chill run down her spine but continued to reposition herself around the gun. The butt of the machine pressed against her shoulder, comfortably and familiar as she leaned into the scope.

Whatever nervous she had were washed away, her body refusing to shake; it almost felt like it couldn't, like her muscles wouldn't let her. She let out a sigh and stared at the box through the scope, finger resting delicately on the trigger.

"Now?" She barely whispered.

Xander paused for a few second, shifting in his chair wherever he was before grunting, "Do it now."

And as quickly as the bullet escaped the barrel, her vision was blocked by a wall of fiery explosion. The heat of it blazed her cold nose and Scout stumbled back away from the gun, landing on her behind with her hands covering her mouth.

Screams of civilians brought her back from the shock and she immediately started to disassemble the the firearm. She looked back out the window and the tree that the cardboard box was next to was now on fire, the leafs blazing and cackling in ash.

"Hey! I didn't say you were done yet, get your ass back in position!" Xander screamed at through the phone.

"What the hell was that?!" Frantically, she got up and one hand on her rifle and the other running her hand through her wild hair.

"A distraction. Now, it's time for the real thing. Hurry up, you'll miss your shot."

"What?"

"You've got 30 seconds, make it count."

Scout nodded and set up her gun once more, eyeing whatever moved through the scope. People ran around in screams, some holding their children, others crying into their cell phones, and few dashing away to safety.

In the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of blonde and a sinking feeling in her stomach made her eyes sting. The realization on what was going on hit her like a thousand bricks.

"5 o'clock, tall blonde and the kid, I think you recognize them." But Scout held her tongue back. "Shoot the kid."

"What? No! I - I can't." She argued into the phone.

"Relax, I'm not asking you to kill him. Just a little love tap, give him a scar or something. I don't care where, just do it."

"I won't, I can't. That's a kid, Xander. We don't shoot at kids, we never have."

"You either do it, or I put a bullet between your mother's head and then yours. You really think that that kid is more important than your own family, then be my guest. You'll be doing me a favor."

Scout paused.

"Besides, if you don't then I'll get someone else to do it. And who knows if they'll be as good of a shot as you are? Maybe they'll slip and shoot him in the neck? Do you really want to risk that? Seems a bit selfish if you ask me."

"I - I-"

"Tick tock, Scout. You're gonna miss the shot." And he was right.

JJ held tightly to Henry, trying to shield him from the flames while still trying to help people and calm them down. Seconds felt like hours as Scout watched their faces, whittled with worry and fear. And she herself felt what seemed like impossible nerves awaken and shake in her fingertips.

Scout grabbed the firearm and perched it at the window, swallowing whatever emotions stopping her. If she didn't do it, Henry could be hurt even worse. And if she did it, then she knew that he wouldn't be killed by accident. But still, shooting at a child was never a part of her job description.

And her own mother; did it make it all justified if it meant saving herself and mom from being killed? Was it really worth it?

"Tick tock."

She grabbed the cell phone and tucked it into her back pocket, careful to not hang up. Scout pressed herself to the scope and saw JJ drop Henry to the ground, holding on to him by his small hand as she helped an older woman get up from the ground. This was her chance, her only chance.

And when Scout saw Henry flailing around his little arms for attention, an idea popped into her head. But before she could mentally think about the repercussions, her instincts took over and pulled the trigger.

And the sound of screams below confirmed what she had done. Scout quickly disassembled her rifle and packed it away in her bag before running out of the room and out the building.

"Did you do it?" Xander's voice perked from her back pocket.

"Yeah, I did it." Scout, breathless and full of adrenaline, grabbed the phone before slamming it shut, "Now leave me alone."

When Scout arrived home all she wanted to do was curl up in bed under blankets, close the blinds, and shut herself off from the world for days. She knew that soon enough, she would get a call or a text from Hotch to get to the office as soon as possible. There he would state that there was an attack nearby and probably connect it to the recent sniper shooting.

And she would have to lie, again.

Scout trudged into the house, taking off her hoodie and throwing it on the empty chair nearby. Even though she walked home, her muscles felt like she had just ran an marathon.

"Scout? Is that you?" She hear her mother call to her from the living room.

"No." Scout yelled back, "It's a cat burglar, give me all your money."

"Oh hush," Harper said as her daughter walked in and leaned against the sofa, "I don't like it when you joke around like that."

"Then why did you ask if it was me? I don't think an actual criminal breaking it would respond to you."

Harper gave her a look, "Are you done?"

Scout but her lip and looked away, the feeling of dread coming over her again. She knew she would have to tell her mother what happened, it wouldn't be fair not to.

"Honey, what's wrong?" Her mother cooed as Scout sat down in the loveseat next to her wheelchair, "Are you okay?"

Scout shook her head.

"What happened? Does it have to do with Xander?"

"It always has to do with him," Scout exasperated, letting her head fall into her hands. She peeked up at her mother, "He wanted to me to shoot at a kid."

"What?" Harper gasped, "No, that can't be right. He would never-"

"He did, Mom. He wanted me to shoot the kid of someone from my team in the BAU. And he caused an explosion in the park - I mean - it was kinda my fault but I didn't know. There was this box and he told me to shoot it and I didn't think much about it but then it exploded."

"That was you?"

Scout nodded, "And then he told me to shoot this kid and - and I couldn't so -"

"What?"

She leaned in to her mother, whispering softly, "Does Xander - does he have the house mic-ed?"

Harper gaped, "I - I don't know. He wouldn't tell me, even if her did. Do you think?-"

Scout nodded and got up, grabbing the remote from the coffee table and turning on the television, "Oh look mom! Look, they're playing Wheel of Fortune! Can hear it alright?"

Her eyes widened when she realized what her daughter was doing, "Actually, can you turn it up a bit? My hearing's been a bit wonky lately, I can't understand what they're saying? Did they ask for a vowel?"

Scout turned up the volume to the max before grabbing her wheelchair and leading them to the bathroom. She immediately turned on the shower and sink before closing the toilet seat and sitting down.

"I think that'll do." Harper sighed. "Oh, but I really don't want to waste so much water. Our bill is getting expensive-"

"Mom, please!"

"Right, right. What happened? Did you shoot the child?"

Scout shook her head, "I couldn't. I made it look like I did, I shot the tree nearby. But, he'll find out, Mom. You know he will, he always does."

"What are you going to do?"

"I - I don't know! What can I do? It's not like Xander will believe what I say, he'll know that I missed on purpose. And then, he'll kill me. He'll kill you."

Harper shook her head and rested her fingers on her chin, "Let me handle it."

"What? Are you crazy?"

"No, but I can talk to him. He'll listen to me, trust me. But I can't have you here when I do. That will only make it worse."

"Mom, I can't let you do that! What if he does something?"

"Xander? Pish posh, he wouldn't be able to lay a finger on me and he knows it. But I can get him off your back, for a little while, I don't know how long." Harper waved it off.

She grabbed Scout's face and traced her cheeks with her wrinkled fingers, "You've got to trust me, Scout. I'm so sorry for letting Xander into our lives, I - I just didn't know what to do."

"Mom." She whispered, seeing the woman tear up with emotion.

"Let me finish. I was young and - and your father died suddenly. He didn't leave anything behind for us to live on, we would be on the streets. So when Xander came, claiming he was an old friend and said he could help us, I didn't think anything of it. I was just so grateful that someone was helping us. And when he said that he wanted to teach you all this self-defense, I thought that your father would've done the exact same thing."

"I didn't know what he was teaching you exactly until after. And by then, I felt like I owed him too much that I couldn't say anything at all. It was always about listening to him and doing what he said, that's why I did the things I did and said that things I said. It was because I felt like I owed Xander too much and maybe - just maybe - he would stop bothering us eventually."

"But that never happened."

Harper smiled sadly, "No, it didn't. I'm so sorry, Scout. I just thought I was doing the right thing."

Scout got up and enveloped her mother into a hug, "I guess he was tricking the both of us. And you don't have anything to be sorry about, I understand."

Her mother brushed Scout's hair away from her face with a small laugh, "Now, you need to take a shower. Because you seriously reek of sweat. When was the last time you fully cleaned yourself?"

"Mom," She groaned before letting go of the hug.

"I know, I know. Just - you might as well take a shower since you're already in here." Harper began to wheel herself out, "And not too long, we've already wasted enough water as is."

Spencer got out of the cold shower, a towel wrapped around his waist and another covering his drenched hair. He sighed and sat down in his bed, not caring about his sheets getting wet.

The room was in its usual state of quiet and he was starting to hate the sound even more. He didn't know that the sound of silence could be so deafening but here he was. Spencer wished for the chaos, the loudness, the insufferable noise that made him feel like he couldn't think at all.

Because, in reality, he didn't want to.

All Spencer could do now was think. And thinking about a puzzle without having all the pieces felt like suicide and self destruction. Was it avoidable?

He knew that it was. But the reason for all his thinking was also the solution to stop the thoughts.

Scout Wiley.

She was loud, chaotic, and insufferable. But she still grabbed all his attention and more, making him feel like a normal person. He never tried figuring her out because he knew he couldn't. And he was okay with that.

If you had asked Spencer two weeks ago how he remembered Scout, he would recount the almost kiss and rush of cold that came from winter's first snow. If you asked him again how he remembered Scout a week ago, he would say passionate in all aspects that it came in: pulsating, messy, wild, angering, and inconsolable. But if you asked him now how he remembered Scout, he would feel empty and unbearably silent.

That silence was following him around like a cloud of lighting with no thunder. You could see the flash of light and expect to hear a boom, but nothing would come. All you could do was sit and wait for a bang that would never come.

And he was stuck, waiting for something he never knew when it would occur.

Spencer sighed and shook out his hair in his towel, before getting dressed in simple sweatpants and a thermal long sleeved shirt. He walked to the living room and tried to watch television but after 5 minutes of staring, decided against it. He didn't have the patience.

Instead, Spencer made himself a cup of coffee, lots of cream and sugar, and carefully drank his first sip before his cell phone rang and burning his lips in surprise.

"Shit!" He yelped as he put the coffee down and burned his hand with the drink spilling over.

Spencer grabbed the phone from the counter, humming in pain, "What? What is it?"

"Reid? Is everything okay?"

He froze before clearing his throat, "Hotch. Hey, what's up? Yeah, everything's fine. Did you need something?"

"Reid, there's been an attack at Petit Park." Hotch spoke, monotone but still booming with bass.

"Petit Park? What-"

The realization donned him when it occurred who lived closer to the park and walked through the public area, "Is JJ-"

"She's fine, but there's been another attack. And an explosion."

"The sniper? It's not part of his M.O."

"No, it's not. But the explosion was trigged by a gunshot, there was a bomb waiting at the park."

"That's not right, it can't be the same person. If JJ wasn't attacked and there was a bomb then it doesn't make sense. No one on the team was meant to be there-"

"Reid, Henry was shot at."

A silence of shock followed, "W-What? Henry? No - no, that's not right. Is he-"

"He's fine. The sniper didn't hit him, but he did hit a tree that he was standing next to. It seems like he missed his target."

"Or maybe he didn't. Maybe he was trying to send a message?" Spencer sighed, letting his shoulders slump forward.

"Maybe. We can't be sure yet. I just wanted to check in with everyone in the team to see if they were okay and let them know. It seems like we're not the only ones being targeted anymore. We have to be on alert. Now more than ever."

He nodded, "How's JJ?"

"Shaken up, but angry. I think we can all expected her to be like that, though. But she's fine and so is Henry. And there were no civilians with major injuries after Petit Park, some minor cuts and bumps but that's it."

"Good," Spencer looked away. "Hotch, we can't do this again. You - You can't do this again."

"I know. But we're getting to the bottom of it. The FBI is doing all that it can. We just have to keep doing what we're doing and hope for the best."

"Do they have any leads?"

Another pause, "They don't. But I - have a few, I can't be sure yet. I'll be looking into it later. Just - stay safe, Reid. Got it?"

"Yeah, I'll talk to you soon, Hotch."

And with that, Spencer hung up the phone. He sat down on the floor with a sigh, feeling guilty as ever.

When he begged for chaos, this was not what he had in mind.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE:
I always knew Harper did everything with good intentions, just like any mother would and I'm glad that I can clear up any tensions that were between her and Scout.
And poor Spencer, I feel so bad for my boy. He doesn't deserve all this, he just wants to be happy.
Hotch, on the other hand, has some theories as to what's going on. Hm, wonder what they could be?

a special thanks to readers who comment:
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