Original characters do not belong to me.
Delirium of Dreams
"Serendipity. Look for something, find something else, and realize that what you've found is more suited to your needs than what you thought you were looking for." – Lawrence BlockThe fear in her eyes could be seen even inside the dark and dim candle lit room.
"W-what are you going to do to me?" The woman managed to choke out. Tears poured down her cheeks.
Her rope bindings were hammered into the floor, her arms were extended out from her sides, but her legs were together. A white robe had been put on her and on top of what she was wearing. Another figure could be seen in the shadows, more feminine from the man who was writing something by one of the candles.
"Goddess…" The man said silently.
"What?" The woman asked on impulse.
"You're sacrifice will sustain her divinity." The man said as he turned around with a knife in hand.
"O-oh, my god! NO!" The woman shrieked horrified as she began to struggle.
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Derek watched as Spencer guzzled downed yet another cup of coffee, as they both stood in the kitchen.
"Wow, drink any faster and you might choke." Derek said as he shook his head.
"Sorry." Spencer said clearing his throat.
"What kept you up? Hot date or were you solving some impossible mathematic equation?" Derek said chuckling.
"Actually, mathematical equations-" Spencer began, but Derek cut him off.
"How about you lay the facts on me, when it's not early in the morning?"
"Right."
"So, what was it then?" Derek asked taking a sip of his coffee.
"Nothing exciting, I was just finishing the last of my paper work.
Rossi then walked in and started to get himself coffee as well, but stopped and looked at Spencer.
"He's in here again?" Rossi asked amused.
"Refueling." Derek said laughing as he left.
"Come on, I'll take you to get some stronger coffee." Rossi said motioning him to put his coffee down. Spencer looked around with his eyes, before putting his coffee down.
"Come on." Rossi said as me motioned for him to get in front of him. The two then left.
After the two had grabbed their coffee, they began to walk back to the BAU headquarters.
"You should take some vacation time, every once in a while. The mind needs time to clear." Rossi said.
"I know, but I don't exactly have anyone to go with or to see." Spencer replied.
"Have you ever thought of meeting people outside the BAU? And who said you needed to go with someone?"
As the two crossed a busy crosswalk, Spencer almost collided with a girl busy rummaging through her purse going the opposite direction as him.
"Oh! Sorry." The girl said.
"It's ok." Spencer said slightly moving out of her way.
She hurried off, not noticing she dropped a book. Spencer picked up the book and examined it for a moment, before trying to catch up with her.
"Reid?" Rossi said as he turned around and followed him. As Spencer approached the girl, he stopped nearby and just watched.
"Hey!" Spenser called getting the girl's attention.
"Um, you dropped this." Spencer said holding up the book.
"Oh, um, thanks." The girl said surprised and smiling. The two made eye contact.
Spencer was a bit taken back by her appearance. She had mid-long layered auburn hair and bangs that drew attention to her almond rich green eyes that were on the darker side. Her cheekbones were high and her lips were full. She was wearing a long sleeved collared off white shirt with a beige layered four button decoration open vest over it; dark wash skinny jeans; a long gold chain ring necklace; oversized purse and beige round-toe pumps with black heels. She had a thin build, but a busty voluptuous figure with flawless skin, and her make-up only enhanced her beauty.
Spencer looked down at the book she had dropped.
"'The Student's Guide to Cognitive Neuroscience' all the key topics in cognitive neuroscience, including vision, attention, memory, speech and language, numeracy, executive function, and social and emotional behavior." Spencer said as he handed her the book. She looked pleasantly surprised.
"You've actually read this? Impressive. Most young guys wouldn't be interested." She said holding it in her hands.
"I haven't met anyone who's read it either. College course related?"
"No, I just like learning. No offense, but aren't you a bit young to be reading these kinds of books?"
"Aren't you?"
"Touché." She said smiling. Spencer smiled back.
"Well, um, thanks." The girl said putting the book in her bag before beginning to leave.
Spencer quickly looked back at Rossi before looking at her again.
"Um, uh, wait!" Spencer said walking up to her. The girl stopped and turned to him.
"Can you tell me your name?" Spencer asked.
"It's Claire. Claire Evans. And your name?" Claire asked.
"I'm Spencer Reid."
Just then Spencer's cell phone began to ring. Spencer picked up the phone. It was Derek telling him a body was found locally and they needed to meet at headquarters before getting to the crime scene. Spencer then hung up.
"Important?" Claire asked.
"I work for the BAU." Spencer said.
"Well then, you better hurry." Claire said giving him a small smile before taking her leave again.
"It was nice meeting you." Spencer said loudly for her to hear.
"If you're lucky, we just might meet again." Claire said, facing him, before she turned back around.
Rossi walked over to Spencer.
"And what was all that about?" Rossi asked with an amused expression.
\\\\\\\\\\
"Hey, how long does it take to get coffee? Does genius mean directionally impaired?" Derek teased as he flipped through a few files. Rossi and Spencer had just walked in.
"We would have been back sooner, but Reid decided to chase girls." Rossi answered walking over to Derek's desk.
Derek laughed.
"Boy genius chasing girls? I wish I could have been there." Derek said with a big grin on his face.
Spencer opened his mouth to defend himself, but was interrupted.
"Could have been were?" Emily asked walking over.
"I wasn't flirting. She dropped a book of hers and I just gave it back." Spencer said defending himself. He sat down at his desk.
"Wait and this wasn't some older woman, right? She was young?" Derek asked raising his brows.
Spencer nodded.
"Was she cute?" Derek asked. He knew Spencer
"Mathematically speaking her facial proportions is ideal, and her body ratios match perfectly." Spencer said. When he finished he noticed Derek was just staring at him with same expression he's used countless times before.
"She's gorgeous." Spencer said finally after a moments pause.
"Well, well." Derek teased.
"It was no big deal. I just gave her back her book." Spencer said leaning back in his chair.
"Hey Rossi, you're a top notch Profiler, what did you get from their interaction?" Derek asked, looking over at him.
"Leave me out of this." Rossi said putting his hands up and chuckling.
"Come on, how many times have we seen Reid pass up opportunity with women if he knows the girl is interested?" Derek said.
Spencer looked at Derek as if he had no clue what he was talking about.
"I don't do that." Spencer said slightly frowning.
Derek looked at Rossi through his brow with a 'tell the truth' look on his face. Rossi sighed.
"Can we just focus on this new case?" Spencer asked starting to feel uncomfortable.
"Hotch is waiting for us." Emily said.
"Let's go than." Rossi said making his way towards the meeting room.
\\\\\\\\\
"A woman was found in her home, bound and wearing white robes. Multiple parts of her body have been cut, and she was bled out." Hotch began to inform the team.
"There was no forced entry into the home, so she either knew the UNSUB or she was just entering the home when he forced his way in. There were two previous killings before we were notified, both done the same way both women. A closer look at the last crime scene will help us get a better profile." Hotch said.
"Why were we notified on the third killing?" JJ asked.
"The neighborhoods the crimes were committed in were fairly quite. Most of the neighbors assumed they went on vacation when they weren't seen for a while." Hotch said.
"Alright then let's go check out our latest victim." Derek said.
"Garcia, I want you to look into the victim's records, see who or what she was involved with." Rossi ordered.
"You've got it." Garcia said before leaving.
"I'll start calling the police department for details on their initial findings, and have them send it over to us." JJ said exiting the room as well.
The team left for the victim's house and was surprised at what they saw when they entered the dining room. Different languages were written in red all across the walls, the furniture was rearranged, candles were set up, and there was a note on the table of the far side of the room. The woman lay in the middle of the floor surrounded by a pool of blood, slash marks on different parts of her body.
"This is a lot of preparation for to kill one person." Derek said walking slowly around the room.
"Not to mention the trouble it would take for one person to do all of this." Spencer added walking over to the walls and examining the many texts. Many of the languages he didn't know how to translate. He wondered why he would write in so many languages.
Rossi bent down next to the body and examined it.
"He tied her down. He wanted full control over her body; to dominate her completely." Rossi said.
"Yes, but how did he manage to do that? It wouldn't matter if the victim knew him or was surprised by him, she would have fought him on instinct." Hotch asked as he examined the walls.
"Well, maybe he had a gun. Threatened to shoot her if she didn't cooperate?" Emily suggested.
"Look at everything that's in here: Candles, rearranged furniture, writings on the walls? If he had a gun, why not just shoot her? Why go through the trouble of setting up a scene?" Derek pointed out.
"He's meticulous. Everything is in here for a reason." Rossi observed.
"But if he didn't have a gun, how did he tie her down? He must have hit her over the head." Emily said.
Spencer walked over to the body and bent down besides it, examining the victims head.
"Besides the slash across the top of the front of her head, there's no damage to the back or sides. And look at the other areas he cut: the left part of her chest, down by her reproductive organs, and even look at her hands. He cut two phalanges and the base of each thumb. Her eyes are even still open." Spencer pointed out.
"So, these killings are symbolic in nature." Derek said.
"The spiritual nature is most commonly symbolized by a heart; the intellectual power by an opened eye, symbolizing the pineal gland or Cyclopean eye, which is the two-faced Janus of the pagan mysteries." Spencer explained.
"This was personal, and for him, some how purposeful." Hotch said examining other parts of the floor. Wax had dripped down.
"But he also cut the front top of her head, and down by her genitalia." Emily pointed out as she walked over to the body.
"He's focusing on the main centers. The superior center is in the midst of the other two; its analogue in the physical body is the heart. The second center is elevated to the position of greatest physical dignity, the brain. The third center is relegated to the position of least physical dignity but greatest physical importance the generative system. Thus the heart is symbolically the source of life; the brain the link by which, through rational intelligence, life and form are united; and the generative system, or infernal creator, the source of that power by which physical organisms is produced" Spencer further explained.
"So, this is a religious killing?" Derek asked.
"Why else would he take the time to pick these specific places on the human body?" Spencer said.
"But, what do her hands signify?" Emily asked.
"The four fingers of each hand represent the four elements and the three phalanges of each finger represent the divisions of the element, so that in each hand there are twelve parts to the fingers, which are analogous to the signs of the zodiac, whereas the two phalanges and base of each thumb signify the threefold Deity. The first phalange corresponds to the creative aspect, the second to the preservative aspect, and the base to the generative and destructive aspect. The concept comes from pagan origins." Spencer said.
"The only way for the UNSUB to be able to do this, and not have a gun, is if he had help." Emily said.
"He wouldn't have had a gun. Too impersonal, and it would lessen the impact of the message he's conveying in his mind." Rossi said.
"He undoubtedly had help. Everything in here is too controlled, not blitz attacks. There's no way he's be able to tie her down with her fully conscious and unharmed alone." Hotch said.
"Listen to this note: 'Split in the womb, separated at birth, weakened on the soil. The twins light and darkness are forged from one. Sacrifice light and sacrifice darkness before sacrifice of both the ultimate. The Triune shall combine to one.' This note doesn't even make sense." Emily said putting the note into an evidence bag and handing to other FBI personnel.
"He's obviously delusional, and there's no doubt these are religious. Just looking at the victim's position tells us that." Hotch said.
"What's important about the way she's laying?" Derek asked looking down at the body.
"Well, if the feet are placed together and the arms outspread, man then symbolizes the cross with the rational intellect as the head or upper limb." Spencer explained.
"The other two victims were women also, is it possible we have a woman hater? Maybe an abusive mother or someone in his past that he wants to relive killing?" Derek asked.
"Not likely. These killings are intimate, and he makes sure not to harm his victims until he's ready to finally kill them." Hotch said.
"He's killing in a poetic and almost romantic sense. Someone who just wanted revenge wouldn't be so caring to the preparations of the bodies, only the kill itself and perhaps a signature." Rossi added.
"Let's head back to headquarters and see what we can find. Pictures have been taken already. Let's see if we can piece what he's after." Hotch said.
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The team posted everything they would need on the board in the meeting room. Derek and Hotch were standing, while Spencer, Rossi and Emily were sitting. They couldn't figure out why he picked these specific items to be in the room, and why he positions the victims the way he did. They had religious significance, but what did he believe? What was his delusions?
"If this guy is suffering from delusions, what are the odds he'd find someone with the same delusions as him who would be willing to submit to his will?" Derek pointed out.
"Not very likely, unless they were either related or knew each other from childhood." Spencer said.
"One must be the dominating force behind these killings. Even if both are suffering from the same delusions, I can't imagine they would want to take the same approach if they were equals." Emily said.
"The only likely explanation is shared psychotic disorder." Rossi said.
"So, one has the delusions and the other just goes along?" Derek asked.
"Sort of; it is a rare condition in which an otherwise healthy person shares the delusions of a person with a psychotic disorder, such as schizophrenia, who has well-established delusions. This disorder usually occurs only in long-term relationships in which one person is dominant and the other is passive. The people involved often are reclusive or otherwise isolated from society and have close emotional links with each other." Spencer explained.
"Ok, so what's the profile?" Derek asked.
"We can't give a solid profile as of now; because we don't know what it is exactly he's after. But with what we do have, we should be looking for someone who is a recluse, known for his odd behavior and maybe was even institutionalized at one point. He's also studied languages and religions in college. He's very organized, so that suggests that maybe he or his partner has a military background and has a strong need for control." Hotch said.
"That sounds pretty solid to me." Derek said moving to sit down.
"We don't know why he picks these women. It's clear that these are not sexually based crimes, but so far he's only killed women. There's something about them that makes them perfect in his mind to serve his purpose." Rossi said.
"These women vary in ages and looks, but maybe Garcia can give us something." Emily said. Just as Emily finished her sentence Garcia walked in.
"I looked into the victim's background and the backgrounds of the other two women." Garcia said putting down a few folders.
"What did you find?" Hotch asked. The other's looked at the files on the table.
"Well, the first victim was Suzan Michaels in her thirties. She was a business partner at a theater production company, graduated at the top of her class from Julliard, clean record, and known socialite. Classic high society girl." Garcia said.
"Married?" Derek asked.
"Single." Garcia answered.
"Ok, what about victim number two?" Rossi asked.
"Victim number two was Elizabeth Kessling in her twenties. She was arrested for assault and battery on a friend; investigated on drug related charges, but never convicted; fined for vandalizing, graduated top of her class from a military academy, but not allowed into active duty due to drug addiction and behavioral instability. Total wild child." Garcia said.
"Did she have a job?" Spencer asked.
"Yeah, she worked as a waitress." Garcia answered.
"And our latest victim?" Hotch asked.
"If there's anyone who didn't deserve this, it was her. Her name's Katherine Weinsworth. Number one selling author, volunteers at multiple charities, tutors underprivileged children, and graduated top of her class from Stanford graduate school of business. She also frequently made large donations to financially struggling churches in the area. Poor thing." Garcia said.
"Go through and see who these women associated with." Hotch order.
"One step ahead of you." Garcia said pulling out another file and handing it to Hotch.
"From Suzen Michaels financial records it would seem she usually dinned with business partners or possible backers for her theater productions. No mental illness known in her family and while theater folk may be abstract and weird, none of them are the one we're looking for." Garcia said.
"What about Elizabeth Kesslings? If she was a druggy then there are plenty of people she could know that could have mental instability brought on by the drugs." Rossi said.
"She did have a boyfriend, but he has a clean record. I contacted the family, and they cut her off financially when she started acting out. I contacted the boyfriend and he tells me she was trying to clean up her act. I checked further into her records and she did enroll in a drug rehabilitation program, but never made it to her first meeting." Gracia said.
"Our latest victim, Katherine Weinsworth, she does a lot of charity work, is there any possibility she came across any one who could be the one we're looking for?" Hotch asked.
"No, she mainly worked with children." Garcia said.
"Thanks Garcia. I'll let you know if we have something more for you to look up." Hotch said.
Garcia saluted and went back to her computer room.
"Well, this does us no good. Every one of them is completely different." Derek said rubbing his forehead.
"There is one similarity. All three graduated at the top of their classes." Emily pointed out.
"But if he's going after intelligent women that could be a number of women in the area, and I highly doubt he's picking random ivy leaguers." Spencer said.
"No, there's something else about these women that's making him choose them." Hotch said examining the board closely.
"Maybe we should have JJ hold a press conference asking the public if they saw any suspicious looking people in neighborhoods that these women were killed in. Someone had to see something." Derek suggested.
"They were killed at night, so it might be tough, but it's worth a shot. I'll go tell her to set one up." Rossi said as he got up and left.
"The rest of you see what you can dig up. At this point, all we can do is go examine all the information we have from multiple angles and see which one turns up results. We might not be able to figure out were the UNSUB is, but my guess is he already has his next victim selected. We need to figure out who she might be; if we can find her then we can catch him and his partner." Hotch said.
"Two UNSUBS. Two people to profile, but how do we profile the other one, when we don't know what they contributed to?" Derek asked.
"Focus on the primary UNSUB. I think we'll get more results, but if you feel you can figure out more from the second, than by all means do what you have to do." Hotch said.
Everyone went back to their desks trying to put the pieces together. Hours past and still no suspects could be named, but they were determined. Two days later JJ held the press conference and the team hoped new information could be discovered from possible witnesses. All of them were once again staying late at the BAU.
Spencer yawned.
"You ok over there?" Derek asked.
"Yeah, I'm just trying to crack down on all these languages that were written on the wall. I have to figure out what language is being used, then what all the phrases are in each language, and then translate to English. After a while, they just become red blobs." Spencer said. Derek chuckled.
"Yeah, I hear you. I'm still trying to see if there's anyone in these ladies' past that could be the UNSUB, but it appears that they just didn't associate with anyone who fits the known profile. I guess I'm just going to have to branch out and check with her friends and see what they know."
"This UNSUB is so delusional, that every small detail must be perfect to fit his world."
"Well, we have no choice, but to investigate all of our theories 'till we come up with something. Why don't you go home, it's getting late?"
"There's a lot to do and process, so I think I'll stay here."
"Why not take a break then. A refreshed pair of eyes might just do the trick for you."
"Will do." Spencer said standing up and stretching.
"Staying in?" Derek asked,
"Going out, I think the fresh air will help. I'm going to get some stronger coffee." Spencer answered.
"Alright, see you in fifteen." Derek said before getting back to work.
Spencer left the BAU and slowly began to walk to a coffee shop. The fact that they were in a dead end bothered him. Just what was this UNSUB trying to do? How was he picking his victims?
(I'm supposed to be on break and I'm still thinking about this case.) Spencer thought to himself before riding his mind of thoughts about the case. He took a deep breathe.
Once he got to the coffee shop, he went inside and ordered before taking a seat by a window. He sat in silence trying to relax a bit.
"Order's ready." The young boy behind the counter called to Spencer before taking a woman's order.
As Spencer went to get his coffee cup, the woman at the counter was turning and almost bumped into him; her coffee miraculously not spilling over.
"Oh, sorry!" Both said to each other.
As Spencer got a good look at her, he realized it was Claire and she was again wearing stylish clothes. Claire recognized him and her face lit up.
"Oh, hey it's you!" Claire said smiling.
"Is this your first time in here?" Spencer asked smiling back. Even though apart of him didn't want to admit it, he had hoped he would bump into her again.
"No, no, I come here regularly; morning and night. Is this your first time?" Claire asked.
"Second; I got coffee here the day I first met you. I decided to come back." Spencer answered.
"Well, I guess you're lucky after all." Claire said.
Spencer smiled.
"Are you off from your job?" Claire asked
"No, on break." Spencer answered.
"Oh, well, then would you mind if I join you?"
Spencer got a look of surprise on his face. The only friends he had were his team members, but even with them he rarely socialized outside of work. It surprised him that someone like her was actually interested.
"Um, yeah, sure!" Spencer said snapping out of his thoughts and taking his cup of coffee. He led her to where he was sitting and they both sat down across from each other.
"You looked surprised when I asked to sit with you." Claire pointed out.
"Making friends outside of work is new to me. I'm not very socially adept." Spencer said.
"I could see that. It's very common for people with high intellect to be socially awkward. I always make it a point to socialize, though I will admit I don't have friends I bare my soul to."
"Really?"
"Yeah, I've never met anyone I'm comfortable enough with."
They both paused for a moment to take sips of their coffee.
"So, you know I'm a FBI agent, but I don't know what you do." Spencer said.
"Ah yes, secret agent Spencer." Claire said in a mock dramatic tone. Spencer chuckled.
"Well, I'm a freelance writer and journalist." Claire said.
"A freelance writer who reads books on Neuroscience?"
Claire laughed.
"Yeah, I know, not exactly a common pair. I try to stimulate my brain with diversity, plus I like learning. What about you? I'm guessing you were the smart child in high school."
Spencer slightly frowned in interest.
"It's interesting you said child and not kid."
Spencer took a sip of his coffee.
"What makes you think that?"
"You're body language, social awkwardness… and the fact you read the book I'm reading already, and your age."
"Good guess, but you don't know my age."
"Ok, then how old are you? You're in your twenties that's for sure."
"I'm 27. How old are you? You look young yourself."
"Don't you know it's rude to ask a lady's age?"
The look on Spencer's face clearly showed his worry that he had offended. Claire laughed,
"I'm only joking. I'm 24."
"Did you only study journalism?" Spencer asked.
Claire shook her head.
"I have a few PhDs, no biggy."
"Wait, a few? And you're not still in college?"
Claire flashed a large grin. Spencer smiled and took another sip of coffee. He was surprised to here she was 24, had different degrees and was not in college. He knew she had to be about as smart as he was.
"So… Why don't you tell me more about yourself?" Spencer said.
"I'll tell you a bit, but I won't tell you everything." Claire said looking out the window for a moment, before turning her attention back to him.
"Why not?" Spencer asked confused.
"If I told everything about me in one day, you'll be bored all the rest." Claire answered. Spencer looked at her with an amused expression.
"I don't think that would be possible. You're very… interesting."
"Thank you very much, but I must ask why?"
"Well, it's clear you have a higher intelligence, how high I'm not sure, but you're still socially skilled."
"I don't like to be what people expect. I make it a point to surprise."
Spencer looked at his watch and was disappointed to see it had been fifteen minutes.
"My break is up." Spencer said.
"Well, it was nice bumping into you again." Claire said.
Spencer stood up.
"Yeah, this was… fun." Spencer said. Claire smiled.
"See you." Claire said.
"Bye." Spencer said before walking towards the door.
Claire hesitated for a moment but quickly got up and turned towards the door.
"Spencer!" Claire called.
Spencer stopped and turned around. Claire quickly walked over to him.
"Do you think we could meet here again tomorrow morning? It would be nice to have a new friend." Claire asked.
Spencer was speechless. Was she really asking to see him again? He wasn't used to having an actual friend that he met places regularly. He knew it would take him a while to get used to speaking and interacting with her.
"Um, yeah, uh, sure! Yeah, sure, it, um, sounds great." Spencer managed to spit put. Claire laughed in amusement and took out her cell phone.
"What's your cell phone number?" Claire asked. Spencer's eyes slightly widen.
"What?" Spencer asked in disbelief.
"It's common practice for two people who want to keep in touch to exchange numbers." Claire teased.
"I know." Spencer said taking out his cell phone.
"I know you know; I'm just having fun at your expense. I can see you don't get out much." Claire said flashing him an easing smile.
"It's not exactly fun going places alone." Spencer said.
"Tell me about it. Here." Claire said sticking out her hand.
Spencer look confused.
"What?"
Claire motions with her fingers.
"Hand me your phone."
Spencer gave it to her and she typed her number in, and got his number. Once she was done she handed it back. Spencer looked at his phone for a moment then at her.
"You're very straight forward." Spencer said a bit stunned that he had gotten her number.
The only other time he had gotten a number that was not for work, was when he and Derek had to hand out flyers in the club. Even then, he never saw that girl again.
"It's a gift." Claire laughed.
"Well, I'll see you tomorrow I guess." Spencer said placing his hands on the door handle.
"Bye!" Claire said waving. Spencer gave her a quick wave before leaving.
(Did that just really happen?) Spencer thought.
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Spencer was sitting at his desk starring at his cell phone. Claire's number was the only other number he had besides the other BAU members.
"Hey, Spence!" JJ said waving her hand to get his attention. Spencer snapped out of his thought process. JJ looked amused as she leaned up against the divider of desk spaces.
"What's up?" Emily asked who was sitting at her desk.
"Nothing, really It's just… the girl I had met a few days ago was at the coffee shop I went to." Spencer told them.
Garcia was sitting on Emily's desk, but turned her attention to Spencer.
"You met a girl?" Garcia asked surprised.
Spencer nodded.
"Huh." Garcia remarked, fiddling with a weird rubber ball.
"So, what happened?" Derek asked.
"First, she asked if she could sit with me, then she give me her number." Spencer answered. They all looked surprised and utterly entertained.
"What's her name?" Garcia asked.
"Claire." Spencer answered.
"Nice name, so are you going to see her again?" Garcia asked.
"It's not what you all are thinking. She just wants to be friends." Spencer said.
"Well, you're lucky you ran into her again." Derek pointed out.
"Ok, can we all just get back to work?" Spencer said scanning the papers on his desk.
"That's the second time, you've changed the subject." Derek said.
Spencer just looked at all of them while they laughed.
"Hey, if you want I could peek into her background for you." Garcia offered.
"You can't randomly start checking up on people." Spencer said.
"Why not, we do it all the time?" Garcia said shrugging her shoulders like it's no big deal.
"She's has nothing to do with this case or anything that involves us. I just met her; I can't spy on her that would be wrong." Spencer said.
"No, what would be wrong is befriending this girl and finding out that she's psycho." Garcia said waving the rubber ball in his face.
"Garcia, can you locate the latest victim's family for me?" Spencer asked clearing his throat.
Morgan hid his face as he laughed.
"Alright, back to the bat cave for me." Garcia said hopping down off the desk and heading back to her computer room.
"So, have you guys found anything new?" JJ asked.
"Well, I have a list of some of the languages on the wall. So far I have Greek, Latin, French, Italian, Hebrew, Persian, Chinese, and Japanese. There's still more I have to identify. He's writing multiple phrases in each language then repeating them again." Spencer answered.
"What would be the purpose of writing all those languages on the wall?" JJ asked.
"It's part of the ritual. He wouldn't feel like its being done properly if he didn't write whatever it says." Emily says.
"How does one person have the time to learn all these languages? Especially someone as delusional as our UNSUB, I don't think he'd be able to focus." Derek said.
"You'd have to be a professor." JJ said as she took a sip of her coffee.
"Or know a professor who specializes in languages." Emily said looking up at JJ.
"We should have Garcia do a search of professors in the area, maybe once we get a list we can narrow it down." Derek said.
"We should get on that tomorrow. I'm actually getting sort of tired." JJ said.
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The next morning Rossi, Derek, and Spencer were going through the list of professors seeing who they could exclude. JJ, Emily, and Hotch were trying to make sense of the note left, and Garcia was looking in all victims backgrounds for any possible suspect or anyone who could possible know them. It was clear this UNSUB was determined not be caught and finish his mission.
"I'm going to make some coffee, you two keep narrowing it down." Rossi said as he walked of towards the kitchen.
"I haven't drank this much coffee in a long time." Emily said flipping through files on her desk.
Derek was leaning against his desk and looked up from the file he was holding at Spencer who was standing over the photos on his desk.
"Did you have trouble getting up this morning? We all were up pretty late last night." Derek asked.
"I got coffee early this morning. It helped." Spencer answered.
"I don't think any of the people we've looked at so far know all of these languages." Derek said slightly frustrated.
"We have to keep looking until we find someone. It's our only chance right now at getting close to a suspect." Spencer said.
"Spencer?" A feminine voice called.
Spencer stood up straight and looked over by the entrance. Claire was standing there with a guest pass and two other FBI agents next to her.
"Claire?" Spencer said confused and surprised.
Claire enthusiastically walked over to him and gave him a quick hug, not giving Spencer time to respond. He just stood there with his arms frozen in the air as if he wanted to hug her back, but was afraid to touch her. Derek looked back and forth between Claire and Spencer as Claire broke off the hug. He was shocked to see how attractive she was.
"This is the Claire you were telling me about?" Derek asked with disbelief in his voice.
"What are you doing here?" Spencer asked slightly frowning.
"I'm writing a story and one of the guys here owes me a favor; so, I'm getting a tour. I knew you worked for the FBI, but I didn't know you worked on this floor." Claire answered.
Derek cleared his throat.
"Oh, um, this is Special agent Derek Morgan." Spencer introduced.
Claire shook Derek's hand.
"Nice to meet you." Claire said.
"Nice to meet you too; you got a firm hand shake." Derek said letting go.
"A hand shake can tell a lot about a person. I need to send a message of confidence when I'm doing business." Claire said.
Claire looked around the room. She soon spotted the photos of the languages sitting on Spencer's desk, and picked them up.
"Is this your latest case?" Claire asked. Spencer went to take them form her, but she dodged him and kept looking.
"Those are classified; not for your eyes!" Spencer said stressing his point.
"Then why are they out in the open?" Claire said looking closely at the photos.
Spencer sighed giving up. Claire looked through them for a moment more before speaking.
"Who ever wrote this keeps repeating themselves." Claire said.
Derek looked surprised.
"You can read that?" Derek asked moving a bit closer to her.
Rossi then walked back in the room and Hotch was with him.
"Well, growing up surrounded by professors who insist on learning everything under the sun, you tend to pick up on things." Claire said.
Derek looks at Spencer, then back at Claire.
"Who's this?" Hotch asked looking at Claire.
"This is Claire Evans. She knows how to read these languages." Derek explained.
"You do?" Rossi said slightly frowning.
Claire looked over at him and nodded.
"What does it say?" Hotch asked.
"Well, from the languages I can read, one phrase is 'find the light' repeated over and over again." Claire said pointing to it.
"What about the rest?" Rossi asked.
Claire glanced over the photos again.
"Here it says 'the wait for the rising sun has ended.' and here 'poppy knows its destiny, but lotus I seek for the lily to bring balance.'" Claire said.
"Of course it's just more riddles." Derek said rubbing his temples.
Spencer wrote down the phrases.
"I can't read the rest, but you might want to speak to Sophia Howes." Claire suggested handing the pictures to Rossi. Rossi took them.
"Who's Sophia Howes?" Rossi asked.
"She's a professor of comparative religions at Columbia University, but she likes to study languages in her spare time." Claire answered.
Hotch and Rossi looked at each other than back at Claire. Claire looked around at all of them. She was beginning to feel uncomfortable.
"Well, I'm going back to my tour. It was nice meeting you all. I'll see you later tonight Spencer." Claire said giving a small wave before leaving.
"What are the odds she would just so happen to be able to translate some of the phrases, and know the exact professor we needed?" Emily said.
"She also grew up potentially learning both topics." Hotch added.
Spencer looked at Emily and Hotch.
"What are you saying?" Spencer asked frowning.
"She just so happened to meet you as we were getting this case." Rossi said.
Spencer let out a small breathe of disbelief.
"You guys actually think she could be involved with this?" Spencer asked.
"While I'm happy you made a friend, even I have admit that's pretty lucky." Derek said.
"She doesn't fit the profile that we're even going on. She's social, behavior is normal, and she's a journalist. Are we so stuck that we're just going to pass the blame on a girl we barely know?" Spencer asked.
"That's the point, we barely know her. And we are looking for two UNSUBS one with shared psychotic disorder. The symptoms in the secondary usually disappear when they are separated from the primary." Hotch said.
"But for it to escalate like this, the secondary would have had to never be with the primary the majority of the time, in which case, the condition becomes permanent." Spencer said hoping he would prove his point.
"He does have a point." JJ said.
"Look, we're not saying she did anything only that we should look into her background. She could possibly know the UNSUB. We're still trying to build a profile as we learn more details about the crime. We can't rule out anyone, especially if they just so happen to come in at the right time. We do know that that some UNSUBS like to get in the middle of the investigation. All I'm saying is we have to cover all of our bases." Hotch said.
Spencer didn't respond.
"Look Reid, I know it sucks right now, but it's better to be safe than sorry." Emily said reassuringly.
"We know she doesn't fit the profile, but if there's a possibility that she might know the UNSUB, but not know he's the one who's murdering these women, then we need to check it out. Another woman is out there already targeted. We have to go with all leads." Rossi explained further.
Spencer sighed and nodded in understanding.
He knew Hotch and Rossi were right about covering the bases, but a part of him didn't agree. He felt strongly that Claire wasn't any one of the UNSUB, but he knew he couldn't rule out the possibility; and he knew they weren't saying they were positive she did anything. It was a lucky break that she knew how to translate some of the languages from the pictures; but then again he too knew a lot of different things, so how could he contemn her for knowing as well? He had to ask him self, who she really was.
This is my first story, so please bare with me. I promise it will get better as I familiarize myself with the whole process. Thanks for giving my story a chance, and I will get the next chapter in soon. I urge all of the readers to write a review and give me your feedback; your opinions and incite will help me to better my story and my skills as a writer. Again I thank you.
*note* Let me clarify why it's important that Claire is 24 and out of college. She does have multiple advanced degrees, which wouldn't be easy for the average person. Also, Spencer doesn't know what year she graduated high school. So, if she had graduated at 18 and most degrees take 4 years, times that times 3 (which she said a few) and you'll see that she should be at least 30. Hope that helps.