Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds
A/N: Shout out to tannerose5, Chermayne, southernbeauty13, OhSnapItsMadison, and Mrs. JaganshiReidofHufflepuff for reviewing chapter one, and also a shout out to everyone who clicked the follow or favorite button for this story!
This chapter takes place around Labor Day Weekend so when I get to Route 66 and In The Blood, there's going to be an over two week time jump so Hotch can recover from surgery instead of taking a few days off. Piper's now 14 months old and Albert and Ava just turned three months old in this story.
With the chapter that deals with Gatekeeper coming up within the next few weeks, I need to figure out two 1980's or an older song that Spencer and Olivia will sing together when Spencer and Olivia sing a song together during the Irish Wake at the Benjamin and it I prefer it to be a male/female duet. So please PM me with some suggestions because the two songs I have in mind are Endless Love (Diana Ross and Lionel Richie) and Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better (Annie Get Your Gun).
As Spencer set his go bag down, 14 month old mismatched-sock clad Piper ran to her daddy.
"Daddy home." said Piper as she hugged her daddy's long legs. "I miss you."
"I missed you and your little brother and sister too." said Spencer as he swooped up his oldest child and hugged her.
"Dinner's ready." said Olivia as she stepped into the living room and greeted her husband.
"Well I'm hungry, but I'm glad I gave you a heads up that I was coming home today." said Spencer as he carried Piper to the dining room where he saw his three month old twins Albert and Ava babbling to each other.
"I swear they are talking to each other while understanding what they are talking about." said Olivia.
"Maybe they are talking about their plans for world domination." said Spencer as he placed Piper in her high chair before he bent down and gave Albert and Ava a kiss on the forehead, causing both of them to smile at their daddy.
"They missed you." said Olivia.
"And I missed everyone while I was in Boise." said Spencer.
A few minutes later Spencer, Olivia, William, and Piper were eating vegetarian lasagna and a salad while talking about what happened at home during the past few days while Spencer was in Boise.
When they were done eating, Spencer and Olivia were doing the dishes together while William gave Piper and the twins their baths, and Olivia thought of something they needed to talk about.
"I think you need a new car that you can drive the kids around in since I don't let you drive any of them around in the Volvo." said Olivia.
"I still want to keep mom's Volvo." said Spencer.
"And we can keep it in the garage since there's plenty of room, but what about getting a Toyota Prius?" asked Olivia.
Spencer started mumbling to himself, and Olivia looked at her husband.
"What are you mumbling about?" asked Olivia.
"I am calculating force times distance times the co-efficient of friction to determine how fast I can make a hairpin turn in a Prius." said Spencer.
"I hope that you wouldn't make those type of turns with the kids in the car." said Olivia.
"I wouldn't." said Spencer.
At that moment Spencer's phone vibrated, and he quickly dried his hands to grab his phone. He groaned when he saw that he has another case.
"Have to go back?" asked Olivia as she noticed the sad look on her husband's face.
"There's no other teams, and I am sorry that I'm leaving you and dad with the kids again." said Spencer sadly.
"It's OK Spencer, but at least you had supper." said Olivia.
"I will make it up to you when I get home." said Spencer.
"Can we have a much needed date night?" asked Olivia.
"Yes we can, and maybe during the week of our anniversary I will take you out on a romantic dinner." said Spencer.
"Now go say goodbye to the kids and your father and get to work." said Olivia.
Spencer and JJ were exiting an elevator together.
"We were this close to going to Ocean City, and I get the text." said JJ.
"Olivia and I were doing dishes together after eating an early dinner while my father gave the kids a bath, and I was in the middle of calculating force times distance times the co-efficient of friction to determine how fast I can make a hairpin turn in a Prius." said Spencer.
"You and Olivia don't have a hybrid, Spence." said JJ as she thought about the three vehicles that are at Spencer's house.
"I know, but Livy and I were talking about me getting a new car that's safe for the kids to ride in, and we're still keeping the Volvo since it has sentimental value to me." said Spencer.
At that moment another elevator opened and Morgan and Garcia exited it.
"Hey." said JJ.
"Hey. Weren't we just here?" asked Morgan.
"Did your date understand?" asked JJ.
"Ah, luckily we're neighbors." said Morgan as he looked at JJ and Spencer and wondered how they handle their own marriages and being parents while having to drop everything to save lives.
"Hmm." said JJ as the elevator opened and Alex exited it.
"You must be peeved." said Garcia as Alex approached them.
"I get to Dulles, make it through security, about to board the plane to Boston, and bam, I get the call." said Alex.
"I say we all demand a vacation." said Garcia.
"From who, the guy that works 3 jobs." said Spencer gaining a few chuckles before he continued, "Good luck with that." said Spencer as they headed up to the conference room.
"You're just lucky that you were given six weeks off after the twins were born." said Garcia.
"You guys wouldn't want me to fall asleep on the job, and Hotch and I are the only fathers on the team." said Spencer.
A few minutes later Spencer was twiddling his pencil with his fingers when Hotch and Rossi entered the room.
"Sorry you guys had to come in again. Garcia?" asked Hotch.
"Yeah. Two women, Sarah Beck and Jill Elks, were found in a park in Glendale, Arizona, within the last 3 days. Both of them were single, in their late 20s, and following their normal, low-risk routines when they were abducted." said Garcia.
"Where were they taken from?" asked Alex.
"Sarah was on her way to a theater group rehearsal, and Jill was abducted from her apartment. The unsub broke in through a window." said Garcia.
"Well, clearly, he's hunting a specific type." said Spencer as he noticed that both women were blond, making him realize that if they were brunettes he would picture Olivia in the pictures.
"He left the jewelry untouched." said Morgan.
"Yeah, it's not about robbery." said Hotch.
"Both women were sexually assaulted, and then they were shot in the heart and left in that prayer position." said Garcia.
"That's odd." said JJ as she looked at the photos.
"Maybe it's religious. It looks like they're leaning on a cross." said Rossi as Garcia showed them more pictures.
"Their hands are tilted forward." said Morgan.
"He could have made them supplicate and their hands clenched in rigor mortis." said Spencer.
"So they're possibly praying to atone for their sins." asked JJ.
"I doubt that. Both women have pretty clean backgrounds." said Alex.
"Since the posing was done postmortem, maybe it's a representation of the way in which he made them beg for their lives." said Spencer.
"We've definitely seen that before." said Rossi.
"He's getting off on the power. Let's head to Arizona. Wheels up in 30." said Hotch.
Spencer pulled out his cellphone as he walked towards his desk and called Olivia.
"So where are you going?" asked Olivia.
"Glendale, Arizona." said Spencer.
"Only 10 miles from where I grew up." said Olivia.
"I know. Are the kids awake?" asked Spencer.
"William and I just put them to bed." said Olivia.
"Well I have to get going, and I promise to stay safe." said Spencer.
"Love you." said Olivia.
"Love you too." said Spencer before hanging up.
"All right, let's go over victimology. Both of these women were professionals, young, single, blond, both in their late 20s, and petite." said Hotch.
"And besides appearance, there's no apparent connection." said JJ.
"The prayer position is unique." said Alex.
"Both these women were left in parks. The dumpsites could be symbolic. I mean, a lot of religions are based in nature, celebrating the outdoors." said Morgan.
"Pilgrimages are often made to parks. Believers say they're closer to God in places like that." said Spencer from his spot on the couch.
"Maybe he believes they're surrogates for a woman who cheated on him or rejected him." said Rossi.
"Either way, the unsub participates in high-risk behavior. He abducts and controls the victims, takes them to secluded locations, rapes them and kills them, all within 12 hours." said Spencer.
"His yet to be determined ritual leaves no outward indicators." said JJ.
"Well, we know he has a gun, the ability to abduct his victims, take them to a lair, and discard them in a park." said Morgan.
"So he probably has a van or SUV." said Rossi.
"And he's planned things out. He abducted one victim on her way to a theater, another one from her apartment." said JJ.
"So he stalks them." said Alex.
"The consistency of the disposal sites and methodologies tells us that he has no known or identifiable connection between any of the victims and in fact wants them to be found in order to convey his posed prayer message." said Spencer.
"Well, the parks will give us behavioral clues to help us fill out our profile." said Morgan.
"All right, we should split up when we hit the ground. He's probably already chosen his next victim." said Hotch.
Spencer pulled out his tablet, started looking up hammocks to buy and Rossi took a glance at the screen a few minutes later and everything clicked in his mind on why Spencer would be looking at hammocks.
"Thinking about getting Olivia a hammock for your second wedding anniversary?" asked Rossi as he thought about past wedding anniversaries while knowing that Spencer is following the tradition by going with cotton.
"Yes." said Spencer.
Everyone looked at Spencer and Rossi.
"Why a hammock?" asked Morgan.
Hotch looked at Morgan since he and Rossi have celebrated wedding anniversaries in the past.
"The traditional second wedding anniversary gift deals with cotton, and a hammock fits the criteria." said Hotch.
Rossi looked at Spencer.
"Have you and Olivia decided on doing something special for your second wedding anniversary?" asked Rossi.
"Olivia and I were talking about dressing up and going out for a romantic dinner, and then spending the rest of our wedding anniversary at home." said Spencer.
"No trip this time?" asked JJ.
"If we go on a vacation we would wait until next summer, and we have been brainstorming on places where we want to go." said Spencer as the jet started to descend.
The following morning Spencer, JJ, and Hotch were following Sergeant Lynne Johnson as she led them to the room where they would be working.
"This type of detailed ritualistic behavior typically manifests itself in multiple kills over a short period of time." said Spencer.
"I've increased the manpower on the street. I was even thinking about doing a press conference." said Sergeant Johnson.
"At this point, it would be better if we could conduct our analysis without media interference." said Hotch.
"We'll need a separate room to do the interviews." said JJ.
"There's one over there." said Sergeant Johnson as another officer approached them.
"Sergeant?" asked the officer.
"Yeah?" asked Johnson.
"Another vic, Emma Coleman, was found in Bonsall Park." said the officer.
"That's a mile from here." said Johnson.
"And two miles from the other dumpsite, which tells us the unsub's zone of comfort is within a 3-mile radius." said Spencer.
"I'll reroute Rossi and Morgan to the scene." said Hotch as he pulled out his phone.
"And we'll see if we can locate her next of kin." said Johnson.
"Good. We'll need to talk to them." said JJ.
"OK." said Jonson before leaving the room.
Spencer was going through files when his cellphone rang, and he smiled when he saw that it was Olivia calling.
"What's up?" asked Spencer.
"Well Albert and Ava want to talk to you, and your dad is currently at the park with Piper." said Olivia as she smiled at Albert and Ava who were babbling.
"Please put them on." said Spencer.
A few seconds later, he couldn't help but grin when he heard his two youngest babble at him.
"Are you two telling me that you two miss me?" asked Spencer.
Albert and Ava babbled their response before they both started laughing when Einstein burped in the background.
"Was that their first laugh?" asked Spencer.
"Yes." said Olivia as she wiped the tear off her face.
"I really miss you guys, and when I get home I am going to make sure that you have a few hours to yourself." said Spencer.
Olivia smelled two stinky diapers.
"Albert and Ava need their diapers changed, so I need to let you get back to work." said Olivia.
"I promise to stay safe, and I love you." said Spencer.
"Love you too." said Olivia before the line went dead.
Later that evening, JJ was sitting behind the desk and Spencer was sitting on top of the desk while they gently told Mr. Coleman about his wife being gone.
"This is a dream, right? You're going to tell me this is a nightmare?" asked Mr. Coleman as he glanced at Spencer's left hand and noticed a gold wedding band.
"We know this is difficult, Mr. Coleman." said JJ gently.
"I don't know what to say. I need to call her parents." said Mr. Coleman.
"Can we-can we ask you a few questions first?" asked Spencer as gently as he could before clearing his throat, "When was the last time you saw your wife?"
"Two days ago." said Mr. Coleman.
"Two days ago? That's- that's a long time. Why didn't you call the police?" asked JJ.
"We've been separated. Yesterday Emma was supposed to meet me at counseling, but she never showed up. We were doing better. We were talking, not yelling. In fact, she was planning on moving back in." said Mr. Coleman.
"You didn't think it was odd that she missed your session?" asked Spencer.
"I just thought she was getting cold feet. And that maybe she still wanted to... Wanted to be with him." said Mr. Coleman.
"Your wife was having an affair?" asked JJ.
Mr. Coleman nodded.
"Do you know who he was?" asked Spencer.
"I asked her, but she wouldn't tell me." said Mr. Coleman.
A minute later Spencer and JJ left the room while JJ called Garcia.
"Maybe our unsub is killing cheaters. That would explain why he poses them in the prayer position." said Spencer.
"Or he's just gaining confidence. The first two women were single, blond. Now he's moved on to married ones with varying looks." said JJ.
"He's either changing his victimology, or he knew that the first two were unfaithful." said Spencer as Garcia came onto the line.
"Hey, Garcia." said JJ.
"I was starting to feel like the hottest people I know had left me at the altar, but now you're here to kiss me with crime. What's up?" asked Garcia.
Spencer shook his head at Garcia's antics as JJ spoke.
"We need to get the 411 on our last victim, Emma Coleman. She was supposedly having an affair. Any frequently called men?" asked JJ before she and Spencer heard Garcia type.
"Uh, Uncle Sam. She was behind on her taxes." said Garcia.
"How about credit cards used at a hotel?" asked Spencer.
"No. Mm. She looks like me. A lot of online shopping and Indian takeout." said Garcia.
"Any suspicious texts?" asked Spencer.
"To her mother. That's about it." said Garcia.
"All right, well, send us a list of the 3 women she called the most this month. Those are her BFFs. They'll know who she's fooling around with." said JJ.
"Got it." said Garcia before hanging up.
The next morning Spencer, Hotch, Alex, and Sergeant Johnson were standing around the latest body.
"The M. E.'s report came back from the first two vics. They also had skull fragments and human remains in their systems." said Alex.
"This woman looks nothing like the last 3." said Sergeant Johnson as she looked at Spencer.
"The victim pool's expanding." said Hotch as JJ approached them.
"So I talked to Emma's best friend and she knew the lover's name. Turns out he was out of town for all of the kills and his alibi checks out." said JJ as Spencer crouched down closer to the body.
"So he's not our killer." said Sergeant Johnson.
Spencer noticed something.
"Guys, look. She choked on something." said Spencer as he pulled a tongue out of the woman's mouth.
"Oh, jeez, tell me that's hers." said JJ as she looked at the tongue that was resting in Spencer's gloved hand.
"It's not." said Spencer.
"Well, the tongue's still from the head region." said Alex.
"But who's the source?" asked Sergeant Johnson.
"He either has a job working with dead bodies, or that's from his first victim who we haven't found yet." said JJ.
"If we stick with the religious theory, it could be some sort of communion." said Hotch.
"Body of Christ." said Alex.
"If we can identify this victim, it'll help lead us to our unsub." said Spencer.
"Let's bag it and run the DNA. We're ready to give the profile." said Hotch.
"We believe that this unknown subject is a white male in his early 30s. Initially he targeted white, blond women in their 20s but is expanding his victim pool." said Hotch.
"His M. O. is to rape his victims and then shoot them in the heart. At the disposal site, he poses them as if they're praying. He's trying to convey a message that only he understands." said Rossi.
"Before he kills his victims, he forces the women to consume human flesh. It's called projected cannibalism. Typically cannibalism is a willing choice, but the act of forcing someone to engage in it is a form of torture. It tells us that the unsub is sadistic and most likely delusional." said Spencer.
"The emergence of those delusions would have caused difficulties in his relationships and jobs in the past. He may have been institutionalized or locked up as a result." said JJ.
"He sees himself as an enforcer and is punishing these women for their sins. He may have an overly developed sense of morality and feels the need to superimpose this on others." said Alex.
"Our unsub could have shot his victims anywhere, but he chose the heart, suggesting that he's been hurt by somebody close to him who's clearly the center of his rage." said Morgan.
Spencer started showing the officers the geographical profile that he did the day before.
"This is the comfort zone our unsub is operating in. We should increase police presence within this area. He's also devolving rapidly and could resort to even more extreme measures to punish his victims." said Spencer.
Spencer was walking with JJ and Rossi back to the conference room.
"You know what's odd? Usually in cannibalism, it's the visceral organs and the fleshy parts being eaten. But this unsub is making the victims eat exclusively from the head. Why?" asked Spencer.
"That may be symbolic. It's the one body part a person cannot survive losing." said Alex.
"All right, so why don't you two keep looking into that, and then we can devise a neighborhood canvass questionnaire, check for any attempted break-ins in the area." said Morgan.
"Someone's practicing for his new role. Look, rumor has it Hotch is putting in for Strauss' job." said JJ.
"See no evil, hear no gossip." said Rossi.
"Oh, come on, we see evil all day long." said JJ.
"Rossi says if we want to know, we gotta ask the big man himself." said Morgan as Hotch entered the room.
"I've asked Garcia to compile a list of break-ins in the area and also a missing persons report." said Hotch as he noticed everyone looking at him, "And yes, they did talk to me about the section chief job."
At that moment Spencer broke the silence as he kept his voice calm.
"Do you want it?" said Spencer as he thought about the desk job offers that he considered taking in the past after finding out that he was going to be a father the first time.
"I know what I don't want is an outsider coming in and questioning every move that this team makes. I told them that I'd think about it." said Hotch.
"So, what happens if you accept?" asked JJ.
"It means this would be my last case in the field, but nothing's been decided. And as soon as I figure out what to do, you'll be the first to know." said Hotch.
Sergeant Johnson came into the room.
"We just got a lead on a parolee who fits the profile. We're going to pick him up." said Sergeant Johnson.
"All right, Rossi, you and Morgan go check it out. The rest of us will go over the victimology statements." said Hotch.
Spencer and JJ were getting coffee and a snack from the truck outside the police department.
"All right. Thanks, Morgan." said JJ before hanging up and looked at Spencer, "So, that parolee the sergeant had a lead on turned out to be a bust."
"What do you think about Hotch?" asked Spencer.
"I think it sucks." said JJ.
"What do we do?" asked Spencer.
"Uh, nothing." said JJ.
"What do you mean, nothing? I don't want him to leave." said Spencer as he thought when he started working with Hotch over 10 years ago when he was a cadet in the academy.
"At least he'll still be around." said JJ.
"Yeah, with his name on our reports." said Spencer.
"Look, I'm sure it's been hard for him on the road. He's not going to admit it, but a desk job would be easier on Jack." said JJ.
"He'll suffocate." said Spencer.
"Spence, we both have kids and spouses back at home. I bet you considered taking a desk job after the first time you were told that you're going to be a father." said JJ.
"I have." said Spencer quietly.
At that moment an officer approached Spencer and JJ.
"Dr. Reid, the M. E. just emailed this over." said the officer.
Spencer looked at the file as JJ pointed out an officer with her son.
"See?" said JJ getting Spencer to look at the kid, "I'm sure he just misses that just like you and I both do."
"I'm gonna eat you up! Eat you up! Yes. Yes, I am." said a female officer as her son giggled, causing Spencer to think of all the times he heard Piper laugh and the twins first giggles over the phone the day before.
"That's it." said Spencer as he looked at the file as he spoke again as he headed inside "That's it."
"What?" asked JJ before following Spencer inside.
A minute later Spencer and JJ were in the conference room.
"Guys, I think I figured out why our unsub's obsessed with the human head. The DNA reports are back in. All of the human remains found in the victims' stomachs are from the same person." said Spencer.
"So what does that mean?" asked Alex.
"It's a long explanation, so bear with me." said Spencer before continuing, "When Pheidippides ran a marathon, he had faith." said Spencer.
"He also died. Go on." said Hotch.
"True. If you take the fact that our unsub performs forced sexual acts with his victims, then add to that the force-feeding of a human head and the posed prayer position, I know this sounds crazy, but I think our unsub is obsessed with the praying mantis. That also explains why he poses the victims' hands like this instead of like this." said Spencer as he demonstrated with his hands before continuing, "The praying mantis can kill any of a multitude of creatures, but the most interesting fact is that oftentimes the female mantis engages in sexual cannibalism, meaning she'll bite off the head of her mate once copulation is complete, sometimes even during intercourse, actually." said Spencer.
"So that's what someone did to our unsub." said Alex.
"It also explains why he shoots his victims through the heart." said Spencer.
"But the center of our unsub's anger didn't bite off his head." said JJ.
"No, but she hurt him so badly that she got into his brain." said Spencer.
"So he's flipping the script." said Alex.
"He's completely taking it over. He basically sees the victims as the praying mantis out to destroy him, so before they can get to him, he rapes them, forces them to engage in cannibalism, thereby taking away their control of the situation. He's essentially walking them through the mating behavior of a captive praying mantis, only entirely on his terms. He even mirrors the decapitation of the insect by forcing them to eat pieces of a human head, only it's not a male human head, it's a female human head." said Spencer.
"The woman that's at the core of his rage." said Hotch as he started to understand Spencer's thoughts.
"Exactly. Now all women are his enemy. They're his predators, and he believes they're out to get him." said Spencer.
"Garcia, how are we doing on the missing persons reports?" asked Hotch.
"There are 6 women that have gone missing in the Glendale area in the last month." answered Garcia.
"Any of them from within the comfort zone?" asked Morgan.
"One, but she's a kid in the middle of a custody battle." said Garcia.
"What about surrounding areas?" asked JJ.
"That adds 8 women." said Garcia.
"See if any of them have any connections to the area." said Rossi.
"There's one lady, Heather Clarke, from Phoenix, Arizona. She went to school in the area 15 years ago." said Garcia.
"She fits the age." said Alex.
"And here's a thing- uh, she went missing two weeks ago, and 6 days prior to her missingness-ness-ness, it was announced in the paper she was to be married." said Garcia.
"Unsub must have seen that and it triggered his anger." said Morgan
"That would explain why he threw away the third victim's wedding ring." said Rossi.
"Guys, Heather has a DNA sample on file." said Garcia.
"All right, pull that and let's compare it to the tooth we found in the latest victim's body." said Hotch.
Spencer entered the conference room with the results.
"Heather's DNA sample matches the tooth found in our victim's stomach." said Spencer.
Hotch called Garcia.
"Garcia, Heather Clarke is the victim that our unsub's been feeding to the others." said Hotch.
"Yikes." said Garcia.
"See if she has any enemies." said Hotch.
"No. She was her company's top regional manager. She-she looks loved." said Garcia.
"Well, the unsub's rage has probably been brewing for a long time." said JJ.
"And he most likely expressed his disdain for her long before he killed her." said Alex.
"Baby girl, check middle and high school records." said Morgan.
"No, zero, zero. There's nothing there." said Garcia.
"There's got to be something. See if her parents ever filed a restraining order." said Rossi.
"Oh, creepy bingo. When Heather was 16, she broke up with a guy named Wallace Hines. Wallace did not take the breaking up well. He went into an emo downward spiral." said Garcia.
"What happened to Wallace?" asked JJ.
"He was hospitalized. In fact, he's been in and out of institutions for over a decade. He suffers from acute delusional disorder." said Garcia.
"Where is he now?" asked Hotch.
"He was living with his mom until very recently. He moved two miles away from her, right smack in the middle of the hunting zone." said Garcia.
"So Wallace killed Heather, and when that didn't alleviate his rage, he began killing other women." said Morgan.
"Send us both addresses. Blake, you and Reid notify Heather's parents." said Hotch.
Spencer was sitting next to Alex, and they were both reading books as Alex looked at Morgan and JJ.
"Hey, what's wrong? For two people who made a big arrest, you look pretty unsettled." said Alex, causing Spencer to look at JJ and Morgan.
"Something was off about Wallace. The-the restaurant shooting was so chaotic and disorganized." said JJ.
"Yeah, it was. But when we arrested him... He was controlled. He was together." said Morgan.
"Well, Richard Farley was like that after his rampage." said Rossi.
"Yeah, so was Edward Tallaway." said Alex.
"Everyone has a different reaction to being caught. You guys did good." said Spencer.
At that moment Hotch's phone rang.
"Hotchner. Yes. I'm sorry? Thank you." said Hotch before hanging up and looking at his team. "We got the wrong guy."
"What?" asked JJ.
Spencer looked up behind him to look at Hotch.
"The fingerprints at the restaurant don't match." said Hotch.
"Hotch, how is that possible?" asked Morgan.
"Then Wallace must have an identical twin brother that we don't know about." said Spencer.
At that moment Hotch went to talk to the pilot and a few minutes later the jet turned around.
A/N: Next chapter will deal with The Inspired, and I wasn't going to combine the chapters that dealt with the first two season nine episodes because then it would have been a really long chapter.