"If they can crack the mirror, they can make you fear your own reflection." —Jason Cole
Quantico, Virginia – Penelope Garcia's Office – 7:03 PM
The room, usually a haven of color and comfort, had turned cold under the glow of the corrupted screens. Garcia sat motionless, staring at the words still blinking across her interface.
He's not who he says he is.
Look deeper, sugar skull.
She whispered, "No. No-no-no."
Her fingers trembled as she began typing. She bypassed her own systems—diving deeper than she was ever cleared to go. Layer after layer of clearance protocols fell away like tissue paper under her master-level intrusion tools. At the heart of the file archive was something she wasn't supposed to find.
Project Orpheus – Level Omega Clearance – Eyes Only
She bypassed the final gate. Her screen flashed.
Subject: Cole, Jason Eli
Status: Activated (Delta Black Tier)
Psychological Classification: WPN-A / Adaptive Weaponized Cognition
Recommendation: Use only in extreme tactical scenarios. Subject demonstrates signs of…
Garcia read the rest and felt her heart plummet.
"Subject demonstrates signs of severe moral abstraction. Unclear if empathy is learned or simulated. Loyalty: unconfirmed."
She pushed away from her desk, as if the words could reach out and strangle her.
"Jason…" she whispered, voice cracking. "What are you?"
Elsewhere – BAU Conference Room – 7:45 PM
Jason leaned over the table, reviewing Ash's psychological profile with Reid and Hotch. The board behind them now included Ash's timeline, images of her previous targets, and an eerie photo of the group drawing she had defaced.
"She's moving faster," Reid said, tapping the pinned map. "If she sticks to the frequency curve, the next attack could be tonight."
Hotch nodded. "We keep everyone on standby. No one moves alone."
Jason's gaze lingered on the photo of Ash smiling during Delta selection. It was the same smile she'd used during interrogations. The kind that wasn't learned—it was born into her.
"She's playing chess while we're chasing pieces," he said. "But she won't break me."
Hotch looked up. "We need to make sure she doesn't break the team."
Just then, Garcia entered.
Everyone looked up.
Her eyes were red, but her voice was steady.
"Hotch. I need to speak with you. Alone."
Jason's head tilted slightly. He knew. Before the words even left her mouth, he knew.
She wouldn't look at him.
Hotch's Office – Minutes Later
Garcia stood rigid in front of Hotch's desk, clutching the classified folder she had printed under a burner identity. She handed it over without speaking.
Hotch flipped it open.
After ten seconds, he looked up at her. "How deep did you go?"
"Too deep," Garcia said. "Ash wanted me to find it. She planted the breadcrumb. But it's real. The file's been sealed under four false kill orders. He wasn't just Delta. He wasn't just black ops. He was part of Orpheus."
Hotch stared at the file. "Jason's records say he left the military after a breakdown in Damascus."
Garcia shook her head. "No. He disappeared. For a year. No communication. No reports. No missions. Just… gone. And when he came back, it wasn't under the Department of Defense."
"Then who pulled him back in?"
Garcia didn't answer.
She didn't need to.
Elsewhere – Parking Deck – 9:02 PM
Morgan and Gideon waited inside an unmarked vehicle, watching a building across the street. They were following up on a lead: a known supplier who had once sold high-end neurotoxins to Ash.
Morgan leaned back. "You think Cole's lying to us?"
Gideon didn't answer right away. He adjusted his earpiece and stared ahead, thoughtful. "Jason Cole is many things. But what he hides, he believes is to protect others."
Morgan grunted. "Not always his choice."
Then the scanner lit up.
"Footsteps. Roof level."
Morgan and Gideon rushed out, sprinting across the street and up the side stairwell. They burst through the rooftop door just in time to see a figure drop over the ledge onto a fire escape and vanish.
Left behind was a note, pinned with a knife.
You looked into the mirror.
Now ask yourself:
Do you still trust what you see?
—A
BAU Offices – 11:34 PM
Jason stood at his desk, unmoving.
He could feel it. The shift. The silence. Garcia hadn't spoken to him in hours. Hotch was avoiding direct eye contact. Morgan hadn't cracked a joke all day.
He opened his email.
A single message. No subject. No sender.
They know.
Jason closed the laptop and exhaled through his nose. His fists clenched once, then relaxed.
He walked down the hallway.
Straight into Hotch's office.
Hotch looked up from his desk. "You read the file."
"I lived it," Jason replied.
"You lied."
Jason's eyes flared. "No. I omitted. Because the kind of man I was? He doesn't belong in this unit."
Hotch rose. "And the kind of man you are now?"
Jason stepped forward, voice low and direct. "The kind who ends this. Ash doesn't care about justice. She's here to break every last piece of us. Starting with me."
Hotch's expression was unreadable.
Finally, he said, "Then prove her wrong."
Jason nodded once.
Then turned and walked out.
Unknown Location – Rebecca's Hideout
Ash watched the exchange through an unauthorized security feed. She paused the frame—Jason, standing alone in the hallway, everyone around him unsure of who he was anymore.
She smiled, slow and satisfied.
"Good," she whispered. "Let's take down a god and see what falls with him."
She picked up her next file.
JJ.