Of course, all rights to their respective owners. I only own the UnSub, the Amstell-Fielding family, and other people I make up.
"I hate Valentine's Day!" a young redhead said to herself as she walked into her apartment. The young woman had a good reason to hate the particular day. Her longtime boyfriend broke up with her the day before yesterday and she recently caught him on a date with one of her former friends.
She sighed as she tried to get in contact with her family overseas. Her father was a prominent chemist with a very high IQ. He surprised his family with a vacation to Italy. She kindly refused to go since she wanted to spend time with her boyfriend.
"I'm such a bonehead," she said to herself, "I could be having the time of my life in Italy but no, here I am alone, in the middle a snowstorm!"
The woman lived in the Lake Tahoe area in Northern California. It had been snowing recently and it wasn't helping that she couldn't even leave her town for a day or two.
She poured herself a glass of wine and sat down as she watched television, drowning her sorrows. She was about to order a movie when the power went out.
"Fuck my life!" she yelled out loud as she went to turn on the small generator. It didn't work either. So she lit some candles and covered herself in a blanket and dozed off to sleep.
She woke up with ties on her hands and legs and duck tape around her mouth. She wasn't sure if she was still in her apartment or if she was moved.
"Kym, isn't it?" she heard a voice come out of the darkness. "Kym Barnes? 25 years old, recently single, family out of the country?" it continued.
She frantically tried to move her head around to see the man.
Kym Barnes did not see the gun pointed to her head.
It fired.
"Did you know that Valentine's Day celebrates love and affection between intimate companions? The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs named Valentine and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 500 AD." Reid said, rambling on as usual.
Everyone turned around and gave Reid the face. The face is usually an expression of "thanks Reid, but I really did not want to know that." He's gotten used to it.
They were called in because a victim of a suspected serial killer came in.
"25-year-old Kym Barnes was found shot in the head at 11:00 AM pacific time," Hotch said, "it seems that she is a victim of the same killer, which the press is now calling The Holiday Killer."
"What is that paper in her hand?" Morgan asked noticing a pink paper in the victim's hands.
"It's a Valentine's Day card, something people give to each other today," Hotch continued.
The Holiday Killer was true to his namesake, killing a woman every holiday. His first victim was Janet Mars, who was killed on Christmas Day, and then it was Ruth Scodelario, killed on New Year's Day. Kym Barnes was the latest victim.
"Does anyone have any idea what connects the three women? They died different ways, Janet was poisoned, Ruth was stabbed, and Kym was shot," Hotch asked hoping for a connection.
Reid spoke up, "I was investigating their family history and they have only a couple of things in common. Their fathers were all geniuses, their family was out of the area during the time, and they all live in Northern California."
Janet's father was a famous professor who was in Hawaii at the time, Ruth's father was a famous doctor in the medical field and was in South America and Kym's father was a chemist who was in Italy.
Garcia came up on the screen ready to find any information on the killer.
"Baby Girl, can you find men in the Northern California area who have children in the age range of 21 to 30, and have an IQ of over 165?" Morgan asked.
"Well Chocolate Adonis, since you were so particular in your search, I've found the perfect match. I think Boy Genius is going to be very excited for this one," Garcia answered with a knowing glance at Reid. He blushed a little since he could hardly contain his excitement when he first heard that he was going to interview his idols, the Doctors Mars and Scodelario. But Hotch now knew better and now Morgan was going to interview Dr. Barnes this time around.
"Doctor Peter Amstell has an IQ of 197, the highest out of the four doctors. His wife isn't too shabby either; Doctor Victoria Fielding has an IQ of 175. They have four children, although daughter Amelia passed when she was nineteen. They now have eighteen year old son Jethro, and twins Anthony and Adelaide. They recently went on a two month vacation to rural parts of Asia. Oh and they left behind their twenty four year old daughter Adelaide," Garcia said in what seemed to be one long breath.
"Is it possible that Adelaide might be the next victim?" Emily asked.
"Well the next major holiday is St. Patrick's Day, so we have a lot of time," Hotch said, "but that doesn't mean that the killer won't strike before, so we better get over there."
"I'm sending you the address, go find the skeeze of the year, guys! Garcia out!" Garcia said sighing as she looked at the medical records of the young and beautiful Adelaide. Poor girl had three suicide attempts in the past ten years. One shortly after her sister's accident, then two years later, and the last attempt was three years ago. She was clinically depressed and only got off anti-depressants a year ago. And on top of that, she was now a potential murder victim. Garcia could only hope that the news wouldn't damage her already fragile mind.
"Does anyone know how Adelaide looks like?" Morgan asked as he sat down.
Almost immediately, JJ handed everyone a picture of the woman in question. Adelaide Amstell was beautiful, with dark chestnut hair and the saddest blue eyes. Even though she was smiling in the photo, there was a hint of sadness in her smile.
"Amelia Amstell, Doctor Amelia Amstell, of course!" Prentiss said, seemingly out of nowhere.
"But we're not talking about Amelia, we're talking about Adelaide, Prentiss," Morgan said, slightly confused.
Prentiss reached into her bag and took out a book. "Her family published her diary, it was written the year she died. It's brilliant, she was such a genius, but she had a normal teenage quality about her. She didn't seem to like being a genius; she wanted to be in fashion. Amelia didn't like meeting other geniuses, oh, and there's even a part about Reid!" Prentiss said, trying to find the specific date.
"No way, Reid you met her?" Morgan said, now scooting in closer to see the book. He was joined by JJ, Rossi, and even Hotch.
Of course, Reid turned red as a tomato, and tried to stammer out an explanation.
"W-Well… s-she w-was a genius too, a-and we always got p-paired up s-since we w-were so close in age. S-She was nineteen and I was t-twenty, I s-swear nothing h-happened. It was simply p-platonic," Reid said, barely audible.
"Ah, I found it!" Prentiss said, clearing her throat.
July 13
Dear Old Friend,
Yesterday was a pleasant evening. Oh! I forgot to tell you didn't I? Please forgive me, dear friend. I was forced (by Mother and Father, no less) to go to the Annual Young Genius Summer Dinner. Of course, I had to go because Jethro was with Grandmamma in Scotland. Anthony was studying with an old artist in Italy. And Addie was sick again, in the hospital. I hope she's okay, the greater power knows that she needs the hope.
As I was saying when I was in Los Angeles for the dinner, I encountered my old friend Spencer Reid. He's twenty years old and he's already a doctor. He has an IQ of 187 and I tease him mercilessly because my IQ is only a point higher than his. But it's all in good fun. He's a bit awkward (which male genius isn't?) but it's a good awkward. Most people think we're dating but I don't see him that way. Way too nerdy for my taste. :D
"That's all she mentions about you, minus a picture," Prentiss said, holding up the book so everyone could see. It was small taken by a professional camera. Reid looked awkward in a tuxedo that looked way too big for him. Amelia was wearing gorgeous strapless blue dress and she had her arms around Spencer. He couldn't look more nervous.
"Aw, baby Reid," JJ said, looking at Reid's cherry red face.
"What's wrong, Spencer, why are you being a sad tomato?" Morgan said, poking Reid's face.
Reid swatted away Morgan's hand and looked out at the window. "Okay then we'll leave you alone Boy Genius," Morgan said.
"Revisiting memory lane, isn't he?" Rossi said, sitting down back in his seat. "Hasn't thought about Dr. Amelia Amstell since her death," he continued, "it's all coming back to him now."
It was true that Reid hadn't thought of Amy since her death eight years ago. He blocked her out of his thoughts, since he thought himself responsible for her untimely passing.
He was living in San Francisco at the time, and Amy was living in Berkeley. He was having the nightmares again, and he needed comfort from a friend. She was his only friend.
The memory came back to him suddenly, the last conversation he had with her.
"Amy, I can't sleep," Spencer said, "The nightmares are worse than ever."
"Spence, you say the word and I'll be there," Amy said yawning a bit; it was a little bit after midnight.
Reid sighed and asked her to come over for a late night Star Trek marathon. Amy agreed and said she'd be there in half an hour.
"So I'll see you then," Spencer said. Reid was now fighting back tears.
"Of course Spencer Reid, I'll always be there for you, bye," Amy hung up.
Amelia Amstell didn't come in half an hour. After nearly two hours of waiting and not getting a call from Amy, Spencer decided to spend the night at her apartment.
He was driving in his car when he saw a major car pileup. He groaned, thinking that this would set him back at least another hour, even though it was pushing two in the morning. When it was his finally his turn to pass the wreckage, he didn't see a pale hand sticking out, belonging to a pretty redhead.
Doctor Amelia Jane Amstell was dead at nineteen, on her way to comfort her friend by staying up all night watching old episodes of Star Trek.
Reid tried to block out the memories that were flooding in. Such as Mrs. Amstell's cry when she first heard the news. Or the blank, emotionless stare of Adelaide.
He last saw the Amstell family at Amy's funeral. Three days later, Adelaide tried to commit suicide for the first time. He never understood her reason for it. Her parents just lost their child and she went off, trying to remove herself from the world. Reid had heard of her depression and he hoped that she wouldn't have another breakdown.
"Did you love her?" Morgan asked, noticing the grief on the young man's face.
"Romantically? No, she was my only friend. For a lot of the kid geniuses, she was the only girl they felt comfortable with. She meant a lot to people," Reid answered, barely audible.
"So she went to a lot of proms, didn't she?" Morgan asked, smiling a little.
Reid smiled, "She went to at least 20 different proms. I don't know how she did it."
The plane was now landing in San Francisco. After her funeral, Reid promised himself that he wouldn't come back. But as he stepped off the jet, he couldn't help but see Amy everywhere. They had so many memories in this city. But one stood out to him.
"I was talking to my pen pal Rinko when she asked me to write a fake letter to my friends and family. Just like an experiment. So I wrote you one," Amy said, handing Reid a letter.
Dear Spencer Reid,
I'm writing this because I am now deceased. You are one of my closes t friends, and don't you dare forget about me (as John Hughes would say). Because I died an untimely death, I leave you with a mission. (Oooh! A message from beyond the grave!) My family will fall apart after my death, but they will, after hard work, get better. I know that you will become something big Spencer and I know that Addie will take my death the hardest. No one can help her. Not Anthony, Father, Mother, Jethro, Grandmamma, or her friends from school. You can help her Spence, I know you can. So if the time comes, when I'm dead and Addie needs more than ever, you've got to fix and protect her. It'll be hard, but who knows? Maybe you'll fall in love…
Love,
Doctor Amelia Jane Amstell
After he read the letter he pushed it off as nonsense. Amy wasn't going to die anytime soon, right?
Reid was going to do everything in his power to protect Adelaide from the murderer. Only one more thing for Amy.