Of Brotherly Love and Trauma
Dr. Spencer Reid rummaged through the case that he had been given from the recent briefing. According to the recent killings, the unsub's MO was ritualistic sacrifices. What did not make sense to Reid was that the sacrifice was all they had in common. There was no specific gender that the unsub attacked, nor was there an age range. The unsub had no specific race or relgion that they focused on. The guess that they were against a sexual sadist was debunked when all rape kits came back negative. With this, all they had to distinguish the killings from any other was the sacrifices. Reid reveiwed the killing pattern once more, even though he had memerized it the first time. With slender fingers Reid flipped the page and continued to read the synopsis on the police report findings. He took no notice of a bulky build as it came up behind him. He yelped as a strong arm came around his chest, and a meaty fist started to rub on the top of his head; causing more and more friction to build up. Reid struggled to get away, but his teamate would have none of it.
"Morgan stop! I'm not a child!" Morgan laughed and let go of the man he considered of as his little brother.
The scrawny twenty six year old stumbled as the force holding him suddenly let go, and he was thrown back into the world of gravity. The file that he had had in his hand went flying to the floor. Paper and photographs scattered across the floor.
"Damn it Morgan!" Reid bent over the scattered papers that lay strewn over the carpeted floor. The man he considered his older brother merely laughed as he saw the grim expression on the younger man's face.
"Sorry pretty boy, here let me help you." Morgan bent down to pick up a photo of a mangled teenager. The picture had nothing to do with the case, and as far as Morgan could tell, the unsub was not going after young teenagers, but young men. Morgan looked at Reid with a confused expression. Without even lifting his head, Reid snatched the picture from Morgan. But Morgan caught his wrist in an iron grip.
"Let go Morgan." Reid's voice was taught, and his hand trembled in the slightest. Morgan stared at him for some time before their boss Aaron Hotchner called the briefing.
"Well talk about this later Reid." Morgan let go of Reid's wrist; revealing red finger prints where Morgan had held on to. He stood up briskly and left to the debriefing room, leaving behind a very distraught Spencer Reid.
Reid continued to pick up the rest of the pictures. His eyes wandered through all of the victims unseeing eyes. Their throats had been slit in the slightest, which caused them to suffocate on their own blood before succumbing to blood loss. The victims had suffered much before the killer blow. The coroner had revealed that the victims had endured strenuous torture before having been killed. The team had conformed, just from viewing and reading the file that the unsub had done an overkill. Not only had he shot the victims repeatedly, but he had also removed all organs. Each one of the victims was found dead next to an organized pile of organs. The fact that all of the victims eyes were opened showed that the unsub had no mercy toward human life. All rape kits came back negative, so the unsub had no sexual motives. From this, they could tell that they were dealing with a psychopathic sadist. Reid had no idea he had spaced until he felt a familiar touch on his shoulder. He looked up startled at his colleague Emily Prentiss. She smiled warmly at him, finding his shock amusing.
"Sorry", she apologized, "Didn't mean to startle you Reid, but we have to get to the briefing, I'm already late as it is." Reid only nodded and accepted her hand as she assisted him in standing. They both walked to the single door that led to the debriefing room. A large oval table took up the majority of the space along with a projector screen. All of the team members were already seated, and Garcia was in the middle of an explanation when they walked in. Their boss Aaron Hotchner gave them a disapproving look as they hurriedly entered the room and sat in the only empty seats left. Reid gave a quick smile to JJ as he sat down next to her. She greeted back, and turned her attention to the screen where Garcia continued to flip through pictures of the victims, their homes, and the scenes where they were found. Each was found on their back with multiple chest incisions. Their eyes had been blackened to where there was little to no white. All were placed with their legs together, and one hand on their stomach. The other was by their side with the palm facing up. On the palm was always a single roughly etched crucifix. Next to the body would always be a message. In the particular picture that Garcia was depicting, the message read "And one day, the Lord shall return, and judge all those on this world." An unconscious shiver ran through Reid's body.
Morgan continued to stare at the young man in front of him. Reid stared intently at the screen, and Morgan imagined what was going on in that genius brain of his. He had noticed the odd behavior before but dismissed it as Reid being, well, Reid. His mind travelled back to a half hour ago when he had found the odd picture of the mauled young man. Morgan knew that young men were not in the current killers M.O. So why would Reid have a picture of something that wasn't in the case file?
the breifing continued and ended with everyone being told to arrive at the jet in twenty minutes. Morgan looked up, expecting to see himself alone in the room. To his surprise, Reid was still sitting, staring blankly at the documents before him. Morgan stood and walked over to the younger teammate.
Reid slowly rubbed his temples as his thoughts continued to run wild. A file suddenly was slammed rather loudly onto the table where they were all sitting. Reid jumped unconciously.
"Whoa Pretty Boy, calm down." Morgan placed his hand on Reid's shoulder.
Reid placed his head in his hands. With his thumb and index finger her pinched the rim of his nose.
"You okay Reid?" asked Morgan.
Reid merely nodded, brushing Morgans hand off his shoulder. Spencer stood and walked out of the breifing room, leaving a baffled Morgan behind.