Chapter 26: The Russells

Spencer's POV

Two weeks later.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"Bullseye!" Lina exclaims, smiling brightly at me.

I look at the shooting target and see three holes right in the center. Aiming my gun, I pull the trigger, only to hit the outermost ring.

"You know, statistically speaking—" I begin to defend myself.

"Reid." Morgan cuts me off. "Just admit that your girl is better than you."

Lina giggles and I roll my eyes, sticking my tongue out at her.

Just then, Morgan's cell phone rings and he reaches around in his pocket, looking for his phone.

"Hey, Doll Face," he answers with a smile before turning into a frown. Then he glances at Lina. "Yeah, she's here. I'm putting you on speaker."

"What is it, Garcia?" Lina asks.

"Yang, do you remember Ariel and Caleb Russell—your foster parents?" Garcia questions.

"Yeah...." Lina narrows her eyes suspiciously. "Wait, how do you know I had foster parents? I've never told anyone except for Spencer and Hotch."

"T-t-they are involved in a mass shooting that's going on right now at a mall i-in Los Angeles."

Lina's eyes widen in horror. "Oh, my God! Are they okay?"

There is silence on the other end of the phone.

"Garcia! Are they okay?!?"

"Lina... they're the shooters."

Approximately twenty minutes later, the whole team is on the jet.

"I can't believe they would do this," Lina sobs and I put my arm around her.

"We'll figure this out." I comfort her.

"Yang, if you want, you can sit out on this case," Hotch says kindly.

"No." Lina sniffles. "I need to know why they're doing this. They're good people."

JJ comes over to Lina. "Yang, do you recognize these people?" She shows her pictures of two teen boys and girls.

Lina furrows her eyebrows. "Those were my foster siblings. They were younger than me." She takes the picture in her hands. "Daniel, Marko, Grace, and Tonia—are they okay?"

"The Russells adopted them 5 years ago, and now they're, um.... They're helping with the shooting."

"They're only in their teens!" Lina wails, buries her face in my chest.

"From security footage, they've killed over 20 civilians so far and 10 security guards." JJ sighs. "They've locked down the mall and aren't letting anyone in or out.... I'm so sorry, Yang." She puts a comforting hand on Lina's shoulder.

"I-I feel like I could've done something."

"Lina, there's no way you would've known." I stroke her hair.

"Wait, no." She sits up straight, her eyes widening. "Oh, my God...."

"What? What is it?" Rossi leans forward in his seat.

"I just remembered something." Lina scratches her neck. "Back then, I would take on part time jobs so I wasn't home often, but the kids would always tell me about how our foster parents would teach them how to use guns or attack people. I never believed them because they were so young, so I thought they were making things up."

"Teaching children how to holster weapons at such a young age." Prentiss shakes her head.

"I never suspected anything was wrong since they were always so kind to us." Lina sniffles.

I take the tablet on the table and watch the security footage play. "Look how the father is trying to convince the mother to not shoot the pregnant lady." I point at the screen. "But seconds later, she does so anyway."

"Ariel is a psychopath, Caleb is a sociopath." Lina wipes away her tears.

Rossi rubs his beard thoughtfully. "Typically in duos like this, the psychopath is the dominant one."

"If we already know who they are, why do they need us?" Morgan questions.

"The local police there know Yang's connection with them, so they're hoping she can talk them down," Hotch answers then glances at Lina. "I didn't promise them anything though."

"I can do it," Lina states with determination in her eyes. Three hours later, we land and immediately head to the mall. Upon arrival, we see dozens of police cars surrounding the area with SWAT nearby.

"You must be SSA Aaron Hotchner," a blonde man says, coming up to shake Hotch's hand.

Hotch nods. "Yes, I am."

"I'm Officer Andrew Callaghan, we spoke over the phone." He clears his throat. "Is Agent Lina Yang with you? We would like to speak with her."

"She's here." Hotch gestures towards Lina who's holding my hand.

She lets go and steps forward. "Hi, Officer Callaghan." She shakes hands with him.

"Agent Yang, you're aware that the shooters inside are your foster family?" Callaghan asks and she nods. "Okay. So far, we have approximately 2,500 people in the mall, and within the last hour or so, at least another 100 shots have been fired."

Lina's face turns pale. "Oh, God."

"We've managed to open a line of communication with the woman, so we're hoping you can speak to her." Callaghan nods towards a phone line set up next to us. "Is that okay with you?"

Lina looks up at me and I rub her back reassuringly.

"It's up to you," I say.

She nods confidently. "I'll do it."

A few minutes later, Lina is set up on a phone, waiting for the shooters inside to answer.

"What do you want?!?" a woman's voice yells.

"Ariel?" Lina answers, "it's me, Lina Yang."

"Lina? So you're a cop now?"

"No, I'm an FBI agent and work at the Behavioral Analysis Unit. I just want to talk with you."

"Who's that?" a man's voice asks.

"Caleb, you remember Lina?" Ariel replies, "the little Korean girl?"

"Her?" Caleb sounds surprised. "Yeah, I do."

Ariel scoffs, "She's a fed now."

"Ariel, you don't need to do this," Lina coaxes. "Let those people go."

"I would... but we're having too much fun." Ariel cackles.

Lina looks worried. "Can I at least speak with the kids?" There is a moment of silence before a young boy's voice comes on.

"Lina, is that you?" the boy asks. "It's me, Daniel."

"Daniel!" Lina exclaims, tears welling up in her eyes. "Listen to me, how many people are dead?"

"I don't know... a couple hundred?" Daniel answers and everyone looks at each other in horror.

Lina gasps. "Oh, God. Please, you have to get the rest of the kids outta there."

"But Mother said—"

"That's enough, Danny." Ariel cuts him off. "No one is leaving this place alive." With that, she ends the call.

Suddenly, from inside, more shots are fired and I can hear distant screaming.

Panic floods through me. "How are they controlling everyone in there?"

"They've overridden the mall's control system," Callaghan answers, "so all the doors are locked. And based on security footage, they've gathered all the civilians into one large group."

"Sir, we have to do something." An officer comes up behind me. "Security footage confirms that they've killed another dozen people."

"That's it, we're sending the first SWAT team in." Callaghan pulls out his walkie-talkie. "If we send in too many at a time, they'll freak out and kill everyone."

"Let Lina talk to them again," I suggest.

He shakes his head. "We tried that and now more people are dead. We can't risk any more lives. We're sending them in."

"I'm coming with you guys." Lina grabs a bulletproof vest and puts it on.

"What? No!" I grab Lina's arm. "It's not your job to do so, you're only here to try to negotiate with them."

Hotch nods in agreement. "Yang, you're too close to them, it's not a good idea."

Lina shakes her head. "I need to do it for those kids. They're being forced to do this."

"Fine, then I'm coming, too," I state

Lina puts a hand on my chest. "No, Spence. Stay here." I open my mouth to protest but she stops me. "I mean it."

She looks at Hotch and with a sigh, he nods. "Alright. Go."

I throw my hands up in the air in disbelief. "What?!? You can't just let her go in!"

"Reid, calm down." Hotch stares sternly at me. "She may not be able to talk the parents down, but the kids might listen to her."

With a sigh, I hesitantly let go of Lina's arm. "Stay safe, Lina. I love you."

"I love you, too." She gives me a quick kiss and leaves, joining the SWAT team as they break in through the entrance door.

I feel a hand on my shoulder and see that it's Prentiss.

"She's going to be fine, Reid," Prentiss assures me. "She's a tough woman."