alexei
“The hell you mean we’re being taken off the case,” Morgan exclaims.
“Don’t worry about it,” Hotch sighs. “Focus on getting better.”
Morgan scowls, pushing himself up further on the bed. Pain shoots up his left side and he grips at the bandages. Just when he thought he was getting too old for judo, someone had to go and shoot him, remind him what pain really feels like.
“Hotch, I was shot for this case. I’m not going to just roll over and let some sketchy government organization take over. Sitwell was the one who called Garcia. I think they’ve got some other involvement in this.”
“Reid believes the young deputy who was killed was the one to give up your location.”
Morgan furrows his brow. Hotch can see the gears turning in his head. He gives him a moment to collect all his thoughts.
“Some of the deputies mentioned that the old man that died in the car crash was a volunteer with the local JROTC. What if he recruited those members to whatever he was moleing to?”
Hotch tilts his head, “We were called in by the Marshal not by local P.D.”
There’s a knock at the door and before any acknowledgement can be given, Agent Rumlow struts into the room. He pushes the door closed behind him. Hotch finds his hand waving over his gun. That guy has some serious red flags.
“Agent Hotchner, good to see you again. I’m hoping to get a moment alone with your agent to discuss what he witnessed last night.” Rumlow flashes them a pearly white smile.
Hotch is reluctant to leave Morgan alone with him, but he doesn’t have a leg to stand on. Morgan glares at the other agent taking in what he can. Late 40s, very fit. He’s a tactical agent. Why has he been sent here?
“So Shostakov followed you on a motorbike, opened the passenger door, and killed the Marshall and Zieglar,” Rumlow states.
Morgan raises a brow at this, “You askin’ or telling, Agent?”
“No need to get snappy; I’m just trying to do my job.”
“Frankly, I don’t know what I saw. It was dark, tensions were high. The unsub was tall, strong, incredibly skilled.”
“That’s Shostakov for you.”
“Yeah about that, who is this Shostakov you keep pushing at me?”
“Your “unsub.” Alexei Shostakov: tall, strong, incredibly skilled former-soviet agent. Do you remember any other details about the man?”
Morgan shakes his head. He wasn’t lying to the man; he doesn’t remember much about what happened. It’s all fuzzy in his mind. The only thing he can make out is the eyes. They were so cold and empty like someone had sucked the soul out of the man.
As Rumlow exits the room, Morgan leans back against the bed and blows out a long steady stream of air. Hotch re-enters the room and asks how it went.
Morgan responds, “Get me out of here, man.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
***
The plane ride home is quiet. Morgan watches the clouds float by, feeling dissatisfied. It isn’t often that they leave a case with more questions than they started with. Why now? The victims were old; they could’ve been killed off years ago. At this point, you could have just waited for age to take hold. On whose orders? Moles require someone to report to. What was the research?
“Uh oh. I know that look,” Rossi says, sitting himself across from Morgan.
“This case just doesn’t make sense. I had Garcia look up Shostakov for me and he looks nothing like the unsub. When the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent interviewed me, it was more like him telling me what happened. He was giving me a story.”
Rossi gives Morgan an eyebrow raise, “What if the agents were the one’s cleaning house? Back in the day, S.H.I.E.L.D. used to be the Strategic Scientific Reserve.”
Chiming in, Reid says, “Despite falling off the public’s radar after World War II, The S.S.R. has had involvement in just about every armed conflict since then.”
Rossi lowers his voice so as to avoid Prentiss from overhearing, “What about the Winter Soldier?”
“A S.H.I.E.L.D. agent maybe?” Reid shrugs.
“He didn’t carry himself like your typical agent. He moved completely on the offensive; there was little regard for his own well being.”
The conversation lulls. You can only go through the case and discuss theories so many times. It isn’t often they leave with a case unsolved, or at least to them is unsolved. No one on the plane is buying the former Soviet Agent named Alexei Shostakov story. It feels too convenient.