❝The walls we build around us to keep sadness out also keeps out the joy.❞
- Jim Rohn

Spencer felt alone, both physically and mentally. While he was stuck here drawing dots on a map the rest of his team were out looking at crime scene, surveying the area, working on the profile. He hated it when they did that to him. Just because he was the youngest didn't mean that he was incapable of going out into the field - they knew that. He was just as good as them, possibly even better. He didn't need protection, or whatever it was his team felt like they were saving him from.

He sighed as he finished the geographical profile, his speciality, and took a step back to see the whole board. He glanced over the markings and ran his fingers through his hair, mind whirling.

Suddenly, something clicked.

He grabbed his phone out of his pocket and instinctively clicked on one particular contact. The phone only had to ring once before being answered by a chirpy voice.

"This is the all powerful and mighty God Garcia. Whisper me your wishes and consider them granted, young mortal."

"Garcia," Spencer started, unamused by her introduction. "I need you to cross reference something between all eight victims."

"Yeah, what is it?"

"Can you check their medical records?"

"I already have. Couldn't find anything out of the ordinary."

"Can you check again?"

"Sure thing. Anything specific you're looking for?"

"Any mention of Schizophrenia."

The line remained silent for a moment, the only sound was the fast tapping of fingers against a keyboard. Moments later, a small gasp followed the quietude.

"Oh my dear Reid, how did you manage to piece this one together?"


The team came back into the department in small drags of twos or threes, all holding a new piece of information concerning the investigation. They instinctively gathered around the table of their makeshift base, faces solemn as they prepared the evidence.

"I hope someone's got something good because I've visited three of the crime scenes and have come back with squat" Morgan sighed.

"Well, JJ and I visited the victims' houses and nothing seems to be out of the ordinary," Prentiss furthered. "They all had clean records, decent jobs, lived in nice neighbourhoods and, apparently, were generally amiable people. Some even had families. Not the type of people to have any enemies."

"Well this is fantastic," Morgan moaned. "Does anyone actually have any useful information or are we still stuck on square one?"

"I might have something," Hotch stated thoughtfully. "A visit to the coroner's office has lead me to believe that our unsub has at least some medical knowledge."

"How do you infer that?"

"The precision of the cuts, as well as the fact that the unsub has targeted the major arteries."

"So our unsub is anyone who's made it through a ninth grade science lesson without falling asleep."

Hotch gave a 'fair enough' shrug. "Also, the cuts weren't particularly deep, only as much as they needed to be to ensure no chance of survival."

"So our unsub isn't particularly confident," Rossi confirmed. "I wouldn't go as far as saying it's because they're new to this after eight victims, so they must have issues with self confidence and insecurity."

"He's also neurotic," Prentiss supplied. "He can't risk the victims surviving so he goes the extra mile to slit their wrists, either as an assurance or a precaution."

Hotch nodded and began repeating the information. "So our unsub is based here in Quantico, involved in military activity and has medical knowledge. They're also insecure, neurotic and paranoid. This isn't enough to go on to be able to present a profile, but it's a start."

"Reid, do you have anything to add to that?"

All eyes turned to Spencer, staring expectantly at him.

He cleared his throat. "Uh, yeah, I do actually. I looked at all of the buildings involved in the investigation and came up with one important aspect we hadn't considered in the victimology."

"Which is?" Morgan pushed.

"Schizophrenia" he stated unequivocally.

Rossi looked at him in consternation. "So, you're saying that all eight victims were schizophrenics?"

"Not all of them, but they were all involved in it in some way. Only one of the victims was actually suffering from the disease, two were having tests or receiving results on whether they had it, three were part of the medical industry whom deal with schizophrenic patients, and a furthering two victims had family members who were involved with schizophrenia."

"But isn't it odd that all eight of them were in Quantico, especially since they were killed between such a short period of time?" JJ asked. "I mean, what's the average number of schizophrenics?"

"About one-point-one percent of adults in the United States have schizophrenia, which is approximately two-point-six million people, but Quantico does have quite good medical service when it comes to diagnosing the disease or prescribing drugs for it, which is probably why they all came here. If you look at their files, only five of the victims actually lived here, so the other three traveled here for diagnosis tests, which doesn't seem abnormal considering the fact that these murders took place over a span of two years."

"So the only common factor between all eight victims is that they were all in some way involved with schizophrenia," Morgan clarified. "Well that narrows things down a bit."

"Um, there's one more thing," Spencer uttered. "I noticed that the victims were all killed exactly three months apart, more specifically always being on the fifteenth day of every third month."

"The eighth victim was killed three months ago" Hotch stated.

"And today's the fifteenth" Prentiss gasped.

"Which means there's going to be another killing sometime today" Spencer confirmed.

Morgan slammed a fist against the table. "Well, shit".