Mommy Dearest
The scene opens in a psychiatrist's office. It is a dark, but not foreboding office. There is soft lighting and subtle feminine touches are here and there. Spencer Reid sits on the edge of a couch cushion as if waiting to be launched off of it. His hands are clasped in his lap. He looks up at the doctor earnestly.
Reid: So, what do you think, is it happening to me now? Am I going to be like her?
Dr. Sarah Paulson almost choked up a little at the childlike nature of his question. This man who sat in front of her could solve some of the world's most baffling questions and yet still sat there looking so like a frightened little boy. A part of her wanted to rock him like the child he seemed to be. It probably didn't help that he looked considerably younger than his almost 30 years. How he could see the things he had seen and endure the things he endured and still look such the child, well, if she believed in miracles, she'd say she was looking at one now.
Dr. Paulson: Spencer, I understand your fear. You have seen the worst of what this illness has to offer and suffered surely as much as your poor mother has. I know I don't have to tell you, of all people, the statistics regarding heredity and the occurrence in the highly gifted…
Reid starts to speak as if compelled to rattle off the statistics, his lifelong safety net but the doctor continues.
Dr. Paulson: Spencer, in this area, your emotions and your mental health, you are exceptionally normal, as much as I loathe the term. I know it's one you've not often heard applied to you. The simple truth is that you have feelings, emotions. They are normal. There are things that affect you as they would anyone else. If you dream things, it is not some sneaky psychosis; it is you trying to make some sense out of the senselessness that you see everyday. If you see things, well, you've proven that you know they aren't really there…they are the dreams crossing into the waking. It is nothing more than this. And consult your precious statistics, Spencer, they will tell you that the onset of schizophrenia become progressively rare as one ages. You may still be the youngest in your peer group but you are quickly approaching 30. It is natural and normal to have fears and some are even healthy but this is one you need to kick to the side, Spencer.
Reid looks as though he is pondering this and wanting to believe every word; knowing that he should believe it. Knowing it was all the truth.
*****************
Night now and we see Reid has fallen asleep while reading. A large leather bound tome is open on his chest. A small reading light is on, less an indication that its owner was reading and more indicative of Spencer Reid's incurable fear of the dark. In the peaceful room, a ringing phone jolts Reid awake.
Reid: Reid….yeah….I'll be right there.
Still groggy but waking up faster, Reid run his fingers through his hair trying to look somewhat less disheveled. He grabs his away bag and jacket and runs out the door.
********************
On the jet, the team huddles around the table looking at folders and photos.
J.J.: Three women so far…two bodies and one still missing.
Hotch: How much time between abduction and death?
J.J.: So far it's been four days from abduction to discovery of the body but the women are killed at least a day before they are dumped.
Morgan: The missing woman…
J.J.: Erica Chase?
Morgan: Yeah, how long has she been missing?
J.J.: Three days.
There is silence among the team. Most look out the window as if that could make the jet go faster and somehow get them there in time to save Erica Chase. Reid continues looking through the assorted files, brows furrowed.
On the ground and the team is just pulling up to the dump site where many marked local police cars are congregated.
Reid (in voice over): Poet and Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh said, "People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown they prefer suffering that is familiar."
The team approaches Detective Gayle Andrews.
Det. Andrews: Please say you guys are the FBI.
Hotch: SSA Hotchner, (gesturing to the other members of the team) SSA's Prentiss, Jareau, Morgan and Dr. Reid. Is this where you found the last body?
Det. Andrews: Yeah and about 50 or so yards that way is where we found the first.
Hotch looks up to see that Reid, Morgan and Rossi are all already wandering among the site and turns to Prentiss.
Hotch: I guess it's you and me to the M.E.'s office.
J.J.: I'll head in with you guys too.
The dump site for the bodies is a wooded area just off of a nicely paved path obviously intended for running and biking. Police tape lines a relatively large area where two crime scenes are distinctly marked.
Morgan: It's really quite peaceful and pretty here. Do you suppose the unsub felt some sort of remorse?
Reid: The bodies were found literally dumped, not posed and naked in the open. That doesn't seem remorseful. More likely that this place has some sort of meaning for him.
Rossi: Not a happy one either.
*************
Meanwhile, at the Morgue.
M.E.: The C.O.D is exsanguination. There are ligature marks on the wrists and ankles of both victims. Multiple stab wounds.
Prentiss: Sexual assault?
M.E.: With the knife. When the bodies were found, the knife was still inside the victims.
Prentiss: The face is slashed beyond recognition.
Hotch: Yet the teeth are intact as are the fingers. The unsub isn't trying to obscure their identities.
Prentiss: He just hates their faces.