"he did not pick mccarty at random." spencer blurts from the other side of the room.

morgan raises his eyes to the team, directing his gaze away from the floor. "he didn't take the gut shot. why?"

i come to a sudden realization, and glance up at the team from my lap. "he wants to send a message. 'nobody takes credit for my work.' his ego won't allow it. he feels under-appreciated." i share, using my hands to emphasize my thoughts. it's a habit that i've picked up from spencer, who often uses his hands when he talks.

"yeah, that makes sense, but why did he not take the kill shot on his other victims?" prentiss asks.

derek's phone begins to ring, and he walks out. we all assume that it's penelope, with more information on our unsub.

"we know if the killer has no contact with his victims, he will contact the media." hotch informs.

JJ gives him a puzzled look. "but he hasn't contacted the media."

"he has contact with his victims. and there's only one way. the hospitals." derek says, walking back into the room, putting his cell phone back in his pocket.

-

i pile into a car with hotch, the lead detective, and spencer, as we head to one of the hospitals. spencer and i sit on opposite ends of the backseat, with hotch and the detective in the front.

"this could very well be hero homicide." hotch shares.

"what's that?" the lead detective asks, glancing over at hotch.

"the best known case was hospital nurse, richard angelo. he would inject toxins into his victims, then wait for them to crash so that he could run to the rescue and save them." spencer rambles. "he killed 25 people, and that's just what we know of."

"if he attacked them to save them, why'd he kill 25 people?" the detective asks as she pulls to a stop at a red light.

"wasn't very good at it." i mumble, while staring out the window at the buildings, watching people walk and talk down the sidewalk.

"we should start with Dr. Landman." hotch says, pulling out his phone to call the rest of the team.

-

i take my seat at the large conference table in the hospital, with emily on my left and spencer on my right.

"okay, courtesy of garcia," derek begins, pulling a piece of paper out of a fax machine. "landman was army, started out in MP school."

"there's the law enforcement piece." i blurt.

"well he was smart, got a degree on uncle sam, and ended up a doctor with special forces, and bounced around from hospital to hospital since his discharge in 2001." derek finishes, setting the paper he was holding down.

"has dr. landman been under any unusual strain?" hotch asks, turning towards a member of the hospital.

"last month, he was passed over for chief of surgery." she murmurs.

"let's get a warrant for his house. let's see if we find the weapon." hotch orders. derek and emily get up to go there, while JJ heads upstairs to speak with landman.

it is just hotch, spencer and i in the conference room, sorting through files and some surgeries that landman has performed.

-

eventually, hotch, spencer and i are huddled outside of the room where JJ and landman are having a heated conversation. landman was not happy with the allegations.

"i just got informed that landman drives a two-seat red maserati." hotch mumbles from behind us.

"so if he's the shooter, he has to have a second vehicle." spencer says, slightly turning to hotch and i.

we hear landman say that he has an alibi when asked where he was at the time of mccarty's shooting. he said that he was speaking with another doctor in his office. she's down in the ER currently.

spencer and i turn to hotch. "stella, spencer, lets take a walk down to the ER."

as we are walking, we engage in small talk. "my guess is Dr. Pate is going to corroborate landman's alibi." i say while pulling open the door to the ER.

"you don't think landman's the shooter?" spencer asks, his head only slightly turning in my direction.

"richard angelo wanted to be a hero because in his everyday life he was a nobody. landman's a surgeon. he has power and recognition." hotch shares from behind us.

"yeah, but you know, surgeons are a different breed. they're the stars in their field, and landman is definitely not one of them." spencer retaliates. we all just look at each other and continue to walk towards Dr. Pate.

-

spencer, hotch, and i look around at the groaning patients and frantic nurses and doctors in the ER as we wait for Dr. Pate.

"at least, not for landman, and not in the O.R." hotch continues from our earlier conversation.

"the policemen and ER personnel are on the exact same 24-hour shift schedule." spencer points out.

"so the unsub wasn't shooting at the shift change because there are fewer cops on the street. he works the second shift in the emergency room. he gets his contact with the victims here." i whisper-shout, as to not alarm anyone running around us, but loud enough for hotch and spencer to hear.

just as hotch whips out his phone to alert the rest of the team, someone, maybe a nurse, projects her voice in hotch's direction. "sir, you can't use your cell phone in the hospital."

hotch quickly puts his phone away and heads over to her, and we all three pull out our badges in sync.

"excuse me for a minute." hotch begins, and the nurse steps out from behind the desk, so that she is face to face with us.

"we're FBI agents, and we believe that one of your staff members might be the sniper. now, the man that we are looking for works second shift, and he would've transferred from Arlington in the past 2 weeks." hotch states.

"we haven't hired any new personnel in 2 months." she exclaims, her eyes glancing between the 3 of us.

"are you sure?" i ask, making sure that we aren't wrong.

"yeah. look, i've got patients who need me-" she's cut off by hotch grabbing her arm.

"he's vain, rude, arrogant, he works out. he shows up to work late. he blames others for his mistakes, doesn't take responsibility for his behavior. all of his coworkers detest him." he exclaims as calmly as possible.

i watch as the nurse's face quickly turns fearful. "oh my god, it's phillip dowd. h-he picks up shifts at Arlington."

"is he here today?" i ask.

"oh my god." she begins to say, turning around in circles, looking for him. i gently grab her by the shoulders.

"ma'am, your patients need you calm. now, tell me, is dowd working today?" i ask calmly, staring her directly in the eyes.

she gives a slight nod, so i decide to ask another question. "do you see him?"

she glances around the ER, taking in all of the faces around her, and then solemnly shakes her head.

hotch pats spencer's shoulder and turns to him. "go tell gideon." he orders. spencer immediately breaks into a speed walk towards where the rest of the team is.

"reid, easy." hotch murmurs, and spencer slows down, trying to act natural in this state of unformed chaos.

just as hotch and i turn back towards the desk with the nurse, i hear a slight bang, which prompts me to turn around, before the sound of gunshots erupts from spencer's direction, cutting out the lights, leaving the room very dim.

i take a quick glance at hotch before grabbing my pistol from my holster, taking it off safety. i aim it at the unsub and he shouts, "nobody moves, and nobody dies!"

"better be a head shot," dowd quips at hotch and i. "i got this thing on full auto. anything less, i go down squeezing the trigger."

i watch as hotch sets his gun on the nurse's station. i give him a look of confusion, before following his lead. the unsub knocks the security guard on the floor, before reaching out and grabbing both hotch and i's guns.

"get up! and get over here!" he shouts at spencer, who quickly gets up with his hands up. "double time! let's go!" he shouts. spencer runs over to hotch and i quickly, standing in-between us.

he points the gun at me. "you, take your partner's gun, and put it on the counter."

"he's not armed." i state, loud and clear. "see for yourself." i follow up.

"hands on your heads." the unsub instructs. i hesitate, but interlock my fingers on the back of my head. he walks over to spencer and pats him down, feeling around for any type of weapon. he pulls out his badge, and tosses it on the ground.

"you, blondie." he trains the gun back on me. "put these on them."

he tosses me three sets of zip ties. i hesitate yet again, but follow his orders. as i slide the zip ties around spencer's wrists, i feel his trembling hands. i look up at him, and i can see the fear in his eyes.

when i get to hotch, he isn't shaking at all. i look up at him, and he is staring at the unsub, ready for a fight. i think, how is he not scared right now? i'm definitely afraid. i've been in hostage situations before, but nothing this intense.

"now, put them on yourself. and then step back." he instructs, and i follow, putting the zip ties around my wrists, tight but not too tight. i take two big steps away from hotch and spencer, towards a wall.

"back up. back up. back up." the unsub keeps repeating. i keep moving backwards and as i'm getting very close to him, he takes the butt of his gun and hits me in the temple with it, sending me to the cold, hospital floor.

i hear the frightened shrieks of the patients, and i wince at the pain rushing through my head. i'm not unconscious, but barely conscious. enough to sit up.

i roll over onto my side, before sitting up and pushing myself against a wall, out of the gunman's sight, but in hotch's and spencer's sight.

the unsub points his gun at them both. "get down on the ground." he says to spencer, who immediately falls to his knees.

"have a seat." he says while pointing his rifle at hotch, who sits on the edge of the nurse's station.

"now, what kind of an FBI agent doesn't carry a gun?" he asks, almost chuckling at the thought.

"i'm a profiler." spencer mumbles, not making eye contact with dowd.

"profiler?" the unsub asks rhetorically. "they sent you to figure me out."

"we did. that's how we found you." spencer answers honestly, before being cut off by hotch.

"shut up reid." hotch exclaims, and spencer looks away, with a hurt look on his face. his eyes glance over at mine, before slightly widening. i furrow my eyebrows, and reach up with my tied hands and feel blood trickling down my face.

great. another scar, this is exactly what i need. i think to myself, before being snapped out of my thoughts by the unsub, speaking once again.

"no, don't shut up." spencer looks back up at the unsub. "tell me what you think you know about me."

spencer looks at hotch, almost for an order, or approval. hotch rolls his eyes. "go ahead, genius, tell him. tell him. but remember, get it wrong and he's going to kill you."

spencer looks away from hotch and back at the unsub, who nods his head. i can't see his face, but i'm pretty sure he's smirking. it's his arrogance, his confidence.

there's a moment of silence before the unsub speaks again after spencer doesn't answer. "ok. you're the boss, you tell me." he gestures towards hotch, who just stares him down. "who am i? what's my plan?" the unsub asks.

"i know you shot 11 people in broad daylight and left nothing, you executed a cop in front of the FBI and got away clean, and i know you plan to go down in a hail of bullets." hotch explains, not breaking eye contact once.

"what else do you know?" dowd asks, genuinely interested. i roll my eyes at him, before turning to look at spencer, who just stares at the ground in shame. i may be angry with him, but that doesn't matter right now.

i had heard rumors that he failed his gun qualification this year, but i didn't know if the rumors were true. with me being in and out of the field so often lately, i hadn't known. it looks to me like he failed, which i know hurts, and it's embarrassing. i failed my first one, and my colleagues never let me hear the end of it. of course, i wasn't in the BAU yet, i was at a much smaller and less risky branch of the FBI. my heart hurts for him.

my mind tunes back into the current situation at the sound of hotch's voice. "i know you're the smartest guy in every room you've ever been in, and nobody's ever known it. people feel threatened by you and try to sabotage you every chance they get."

the unsub lowers his gun slightly as hotch continues. "i know you're not a bad person. you help save all of your victims afterwards. first guy wasn't your fault. if the EMTs had been there on time, he would've lived."

"took those guys 13 minutes. 13 MINUTES!" he shouts, and i wince as my head begins to pound even more.

"you want to barricade the door." hotch advises.

"what?" the unsub asks out of pure confusion.

"let me and the kid do it. let them see that you've got two FBI agents in here doing your bidding."

"right, let you give them a signal." he asks, still slightly confused and doubting hotch.

"what signal? they knew you were in here. they knew you were armed. what can they tell them?" i mumble from behind him. i don't know where my courage came to speak up. i understand what hotch is trying to do. i understand his plan, i sure hope spencer does as well.

the unsub whips around, aiming the gun directly at my forehead. i hear the slight whimpers of the patients.

"what is this, some sort of profiler trick? new negotiation tactic?"

i squint my eyes at his, letting my pupils do all of the talking needed, before he speaks again. "no, the barricade is a good idea, though." he lowers his gun. "now, why would you want to help me?" he questions, glancing in-between all three of us.

"i don't." hotch mumbles.

after a few seconds of silence, the unsub turns to me aiming his gun at my forehead once again. "you said they knew i was in here."

i hesitate before speaking, making sure to pick my words carefully. "i said they know you're in here."

"no. that's not what you said."

"why does it matter?" spencer speaks up, his eyes still not looking up from the floor.

the unsub quickly turns around to answer spencer's question. "it matters because your partner wants to help me even though he doesn't know it." the unsub cackles. "go ahead boss man. tell him why. if you lie, or leave anything out, you're dead." he gestures at hotch.

"they knew he was in here. they knew he was armed and dangerous, and they knew he was going to fight until the last round. so they send me in here with an unarmed kid who can't shoot his way out of a wet paper bag." hotch says, holding back nothing.

i close my eyes at his words, hoping that spencer understands what he's doing, and that he doesn't actually mean it. i open them again to see spencer slightly shaking his head out of his own disappointment. he looks sad.

"they set you up." dowd exclaims towards hotch.

"exactly. and they're probably laughing about it right now." hotch lies.

"that's why you want to help me!" the unsub states.

"i wouldn't say i want to help you, but when they come in here to get revenge for the cop you killed, you're going to go down fighting, and in the crossfire, a lot of us are going to die." a hear slight cries from the patients at hotch's words, before he continues. "they sent me in here. i figure why make it easy for them."

there's a slight pause as the unsub processes hotch's words, and then hotch continues. "you know why they took away boy genius' gun?"

"why?" the unsub asks, making eye contact with spencer.

"he failed his qualification. twice a year, i have to listen to him whine about re qualifying. so i tutor him, and he fails again."

i look over at spencer, and i see a lightbulb go off in his mind. his eyes flicker towards mine and i give a slight nod to signal that i know what hotch is doing as well. he subtly looks back at the unsub, as he continues talking.

"you think you got it rough? these people around here have done nothing but undermine me since i got here." the unsub chatters.

"put him next to the barricade. that way, when they blast their way in here, both of our problems are solved. that sort of thing can ruin a cop's career." hotch says with no hesitation.

now that part, i didn't see coming. what if SWAT comes in early? what if something goes wrong? i don't want to lose spencer. not like that.

"you are one sick dude." the unsub says.

"how do you think i found you?" hotch questions, tilting his head slightly.

"can i ask you a favor?" hotch asks again, staring down the unsub.

"you can ask." he answers, raising his weapon slightly.

"i figure the chances of my getting out of here alive are pretty slim. i want to kick the snot out of this kid. he's made my life miserable for 3 lousy years."

now this, i definitely didn't see coming. i look up and i don't think spencer did either, his gaze keeps switching between hotch and i out of pure confusion.

"knock yourself out." the unsub answers, lowering his gun. hotch pushes spencer to the ground and spencer let's out a whimper.

"how smart are you now? smart guy?" kick. "it's front sight," kick. "trigger press," kick. "follow through!" kick. "it's not that hard!" kick. "a Dalmatian could do it!" 3 kicks.

i shut my eyes as spencer gets kicked in the gut repeatedly by hotch. he's pushing him towards the wall, which is all part of the plan, but he could've done it without actually kicking spencer.

hotch stands up straight, his ankles near spencer's wrists. his ankle gun. that's what i was missing.

"feel better?" the unsub asks hotch, almost chuckling.

"i think he got the message." hotch answers, looking down at spencer, who is holding his stomach in pain.

just then, the unsub sees hotch's other gun. "what's that?" hotch's eyes follow the unsub's, down to his ankle.

in the blink of an eye, i watch as the unsub raises his gun, and spencer reaches out and grabs hotch's gun, shooting him right in the forehead.

my mouth drops as i see the unsub drop to the floor and hotch running to the door, telling SWAT to hold their fire, and that it's all clear.

i take my opportunity to do my best and scoot to spencer, just as hotch walks over with scissors. he cuts off the zip ties, and my hands immediately rub my red wrists.

spencer quickly stands up and helps me to my feet, and i engulf him in a hug. my arms wrap around to his back, an i rub my hands up and down. his arms wrap completely around my torso, and he nuzzles his face into the crook of my neck.

well, that was quite a nightmare.

-

spencer and i watch as dowd gets wheeled away by the coroner, and i wince as the EMT tries to stitch up my head wound. it's a small, deep cut, just above my temple.

hotch walks up to us just as dowd passes, and lets out a sigh. he looks at spencer and i, before asking, "are you all right?"

we both nod. spencer lets out a small, "yeah."

"nice shot." hotch compliments.

"i was aiming for his leg." spencer responds, which causes both hotch and i to let out a small laugh.