[Criminal Minds] The Waiting Behind

On the plane back, everyone fell into a deep sleep.

A small light was on, and Man looked at Hotch opposite, "I can't sleep."

"Do you want to turn off the lights?"

"No, I want to get a good night's sleep."

"What's wrong?" Hotch frowned and put down the file in his hand.

"What's wrong with you, Hotch? Usually you're off at this hour, but you're still working. Don't tell me it's because Gideon left."

"You know we made an agreement not to profile each other." Hotch didn't answer Man's question.

"Was I wrong?" Man asked back, but talked about today's case, "For us, today is a big achievement... I hate to say it, but we are just as good without Gideon."

silence.hesitate.Finally speak. "What's keeping you from sleeping?"

Hotch stared at the sight that Man didn't want to look away, his throat rolled up and down, after thinking for a long time, he was still defeated, and smiled wryly——

"Haley left. I don't know if she will come back."

The crisp bell rings.

"Hey, Penelope!" Michelle raised her eyes and smiled at the woman who was elegantly stepping on high heels with a coffee cup in her hand.

"Good morning, Michelle. The old rules." Winking mischievously at Michelle, Garcia handed over her cup out of habit.

Michelle reluctantly took the cup and turned to pour the coffee.Since the last incident, Reid and Emily are like a hen that lost a baby chicken and found it. It's their own responsibility. They didn't take good care of her or even pay attention to her mental state. As friends, it was too remiss.So there is this situation now -

Needless to say, Emily and Reid simply regarded this place as the location of the report, as long as they didn't need to travel to handle the case, once a day, rain or shine.Others, either in the morning, at noon, or at night, will habitually come here to order a cup of coffee or a little snack.Even the newcomer, Uncle Rossi, was shown several times by Hotch.

Thinking of Hotch, Miche1le couldn't help but feel hot on his face.At that time, why did you throw yourself into his arms desperately for comfort?No, in Man's joking words, it's a firm hug without giving Hotch a chance to resist.

That's right! Michelle gritted her teeth resentfully, she simply portrayed herself as an image of a domineering female hooligan!Even if you want to push it away, you can still push it away! Of course Michelle knew that this was Hotch's tenderness, and in that case, any girl who was almost buried alive and had a nervous breakdown, Hotch would do that.

Michelle pursed her lips and decided to get rid of Penelope first.Every time she came over, she always winked and asked if there was any gossip between her and Reid, and then described Reid's pale face and eagerness to solve the case with various exaggerated descriptions.Although she was really touched, she couldn't hold back Garcia's daily question!What's more, both she and Reid are aware of the relationship between the two, and they are more like confidants than friends.

Huh?Speaking of which, why didn't Garcia say anything about Reid today? Michelle held the coffee cup and turned around suspiciously.

Yo this guy!I struck up a conversation with the handsome guy next to me, no wonder I forgot about it. Michelle's hair was full of black lines, and she watched Garcia shyly end the conversation with a good-humored look, took the coffee cup, and walked away gracefully.

Really...but that's fine too. Michelle secretly breathed a sigh of relief, she had had enough of Garcia's gossiping eyes.

Not taking this incident to heart, Michelle resumed her busy work day after day.But he didn't expect that a few days later, he would be approached by the police because of this matter.

It was night, and Garcia was reluctantly saying goodbye to a man in a casual suit.The man hesitated for a long time, approached slowly, and stared at Garcia's lips with charming eyes until she looked away shyly, but separated the moment he was about to stick them, and changed into a close hug: "Good night."

Garcia watched the back of the man leaving with fascination, such a cute and shy guy.Unexpectedly, the man turned around with the same unfulfilled interest, and said softly to Garcia, "I want to do this all night."

Garcia looked at him with a smile, thinking that he would run over to give him a lingering kiss or something, but unexpectedly—

The muzzle of a black hole pointed at himself.

"boom!"

"Hello. I want to come over and ask about this woman the day before yesterday." Two policemen came over, showed their badges at Michelle, and took out a photo of the woman.

When Michelle was secretly complaining that she would not be involved in any other cases, she glanced at the photo by the way, and exclaimed in the next second: "Penelope!"

"You know him?" the policeman routinely asked.

"Hmm." Michelle explained their relationship a little bit, and asked worriedly, "What's wrong with her?"

"She was shot outside her residence 4 days ago, and she has woken up now. According to her description, we have drawn an image of the suspect, can you help us identify it?" The police took out a picture with a man's head on it. Hand-painted, half-to-three hair, a normal man's face, nothing special.

4 days ago?Could it be the day I saw her strike up a conversation with a man!sky! Only then did Michelle remember that Garcia was once hooked up by a policeman who suspected she knew her crime and was shot.Could it be that person? !

Michelle regrets that she didn't think of this earlier. She did know that such a thing would happen, but she couldn't remember such a clear time point, and she didn't know that the coffee shop that was occasionally taken in the plot at that time was the one she is now... I regret it The emotion filled Michelle's heart, if she thought of it earlier...

"Miss Evans? Did you think of something?" The police didn't let go of Michelle's expression.

"No, I did notice a man talking to her at the time, but I didn't notice anything else. Because it did seem like a normal conversation." Michelle was telling the truth in a sense, except She concealed that she knew a part of the real truth.

Watching the police leave the store without finding anything, Michelle put her hands together and secretly apologized in her heart. There are some things she wants to tell her friends in person. Compared with the police, she believes that the information she pretended to say will cause more trouble Attention of a group of extremely sensitive agents.

In the hospital, Man and Reid were surrounding Garcia's bed, looking at the girl who had just been transferred back from the ICU to the ward with amused eyes, still not forgetting her love of beauty, carefully applying lipstick in front of the mirror.

"I really don't understand you women...it's this time..." Reid was obviously speechless.

"Of course you don't understand. If you do, I'll wonder if you're a fake Reid." A sweet voice suddenly sounded slyly from behind Man.

"Michelle!" Garcia saw the girl leaning on the door facing him first.Today she is wearing a handsome denim outfit, neutral knight boots, and some shiny chains and trinkets on her body.

Man also whistled energetically at this time, "Wow! It's not like your usual style. Very good."

"I like it." Garcia looked at those shiny accessories almost with bright eyes, and looked down at his hospital gown with regret, "It's a pity that I can't dress up now."

"Hey, when you get better, everything will be fine, you are our fashion queen!" Michelle smiled and handed over the white carnation in her hand, "Get well soon, I will make you my specialty coffee, Penelope exclusive VIP .”

Michelle's words made the two of them laugh instantly, and the suspicion that the murderer hadn't been found seemed to dissipate from the room for a moment.

The atmosphere is very warm and enjoyable. "However, how did you know I was hospitalized?"

"The police brought your photo for questioning, so I knew it." Michelle looked at Garcia worriedly, "It's not good, I know the feeling of struggling between life and death."

Now it was Man and Reid's turn to look at her worriedly.

"Hey, hey! I'm fine now. I'm here to visit, not to ask for comfort!" Michelle waved her hands hurriedly, and smiled optimistically, "Really, I'm fine. I've had a psychological evaluation. Now Very healthy."

"Actually, I came here because I remembered something. I think it would be faster to go to the police for the records..."

"Boom——" Michelle's words were interrupted by a knock on the door.

A black figure walked in. "How do you feel?" The familiar voice was indifferent and concerned.

Michelle's body shook, it was him!

Hotch turned his eyes and saw Michelle sitting next to him. He was slightly taken aback, nodded his head as a greeting, and then turned to Garcia seriously: "We found an encrypted file in your computer. What didn't you tell me?"

Sure enough... it was for this... Michelle looked down and saw Man and Reid exchanged a surprised look, and turned to Garcia at the same time.

Mr. Detective's deep and sexy voice questioned Garcia with a touch of reproach, regardless of what happened next to Man asking: "Is this related to the shooting?"

After getting a negative answer from Garcia, Hotch again asked to know the password almost indifferently.This time, Man got a little angry, "Is it really necessary?"

Michelle knew that he was annoyed by Hotch's businesslike and unreasonable behavior, and couldn't help but feel sorry for Hotch. He is always like this, leaving the most difficult things to himself, but silently blocking the outside world for his subordinates All the malicious attacks and grievances questioned, and these are often ignored. It's true that Hotch is what she admires the most, no matter what others think, he only does what he thinks is right.

"Yes." Look, it's clearly a good intention but people can't appreciate it.In fact, Hotch doesn't know how to interact with people to some extent. Although this statement is not accurate, it feels like that to her.He's like a kid holding on to his territory—

If you come to attack, I will attack.

Hotch, who got the password, left in a hurry just like when he came.

Michelle only had time to give Man and Reid, who were accompanying Garcia who had just been suspended, a look before rushing out to chase Hotch.

Finally stopped him in the corridor of the hospital, panting.

"Hotch, I have something to tell you."