Authors note: Contains slight spoilers for the episode Limelight, Zoe's Reprise, the Angel Maker, the Big Game and Revelations. This is the longer chapter, I got carried away.
Warning!: This story contains very dark, violent, disturbing images and themes that are not for younger readers, bad language, and alternative points of view. If any of this offends you please stop reading right now.
"Everybody wanted to know the whole truth based on facts and irrefutable evidence, a truth that would identify and uncover those who masterminded the heinous crime, executed it and supported it," - Emile Lahoud
Rosa had gotten off the CB radio with Peter and looked over at Pip with a frown. The old Jack Russell Terrier cocked his head to the side and let out a yip.
"I know I shouldn't have called but they just won't listen" Rosa said annoyed. She got up from the office desk and walked out of her half brother's home office with Pip on her heels. She closed the door firmly and made her way to the living room. When she got there she stood for a moment thinking. She didn't feel like watching TV or a movie and games were no fun with no one else to play. It was her day off and she could go into work to visit but the rain outside was a deterrent. She did not want to get wet, and the bus system she used to get around would be lousy. She turned to an overstuffed bookshelf in the corner and sighed. Both she and Peter liked to read and would by books by the box load, mostly used books from library sales. But as of late she had fallen behind on reading. Running her fingers over the warn spines that were beginning to collect dust she closed her eyes hands wandering before she grabbed a book and pulled. It was wedged in tight and when it came lose so did another which fell to the floor with a solid thunk. Opening her eyes and placing the book she had chosen back on the shelf she reached down for the fallen one. Before she could wrap her hand around it she paused reading the cover. Deviance: The Secret Desires of Sadistic Serial Killers By FBI Special Agent David Rossi. Her eyes widened and she snatched up the book, turning it over to read the back panel before almost tearing it open and flipping pages scanning the chapters. Closing the book and clutching it to her she rushed towards her room. Pip followed and watched as she rummaged through her dresser taking out cloths before getting a bag from a closet.
"This is it Pip, all the answers" she said excitedly as she packed. "I can get help and they'll listen and we can stop this." She moved about gathering her personal things before rushing to the bathroom for her toothbrush. Then she pulled her bed away from the wall and opened a secret panel in the wall trimming. Pulling out a thin dusty box she replaced the panel and the bed, tucking the box into her bag. "Don't worry about yourself, I'm sure Peter will take good care of you while I am gone" she grabbed her bag and book and went back to Peter's office. He kept some of his files here locked away in his safe. But she knew the combination and used it pulling out the exact files she needed. "Got to hurry" she turned to the old copy machine and undoing the file set it to run through the machine. "I'll buy more ink when I get back" she noted as the first of the pictures in the file went through. Going over to the desk she brought the computer out of hibernation. It was rarely turned off and that was good as she may need access to some of Peter's personal operations. She felt bad about that, she wasn't supposed to touch his computer files. She started with a basic search on the internet for David Rossi which provided many results. She worked at narrowing the field till she discovered a blog that stated he was currently working at FBI headquarters in Quantico, Virginia next to a marine base or something. There was a picture of him and it was the similar to that on the back of his book. Closing that search she hesitated before opening Peter's files and searching out the ones she needed and printed them. Trying to be as neat as possible she put his hardcopy files back together and replaced them before putting together her copies and sealing them in an envelope. She moved to the kitchen digging through some cupboards and pulling out some snacks. Pip whined at her when she placed the food, files and the book in her bag. "I'll be back before you know it, be a good boy" she handed him a treat from a jar on the counter before writing a note for her half brother. She put on her coat and rain coat by the door, grabbed an umbrella, made sure she had the house key around her neck and stepped out. Making sure the door was locked she unfolded her umbrella and began running to the bus stop.
She had been right the bus trip was lousy and she had to change many busses before she finally reached her last stop two hours later. The rain had slowed things down but it had also kept people off the street and the eighty five mile trip from Sacramento to San Francisco was enough for her to get well into the book by David Rossi. She had to rush from the last bus stop to the Amtrak train station and was out of breath when she got into the building and wasted no time in heading right to the ticket window. She was in luck the train to Quantico wasn't full and it was leaving within the half hour. She paid for as minimal needs ticket she could get and went to the bathroom to get dry before hurrying to the train. With a check bag security wasn't so bad but the lady doing it gave her a skeptical look as she got on the train. Finding her seat she resumed reading until dinner came and after she fell asleep holding her bag.
Two very long day of travel were hard as she missed Peter and Pip. Also she had finished her book and had not thought to bring another book. She could go over the case files again but she had to be careful no one else saw. She had been able with the assistance of a crew of the train in getting a map of the Sacramento area and some crayons from a child a few rows behind her. Following the instruction of David Rossi she tried to put together a profile map of the perp or unsub as Mr. Rossi stated in his book. It didn't look very good and she was probably doing it wrong, but it was something to do and it would be something to show him. She tucked it away with her files in the envelope when it was done.
Reaching the end of the line in Washington DC late in the evening after a small dinner on the train which she had saved some food from she headed out to look for a bus. There were many buses she found but there was one that ran to Quantico. It being later in the evening the bus ran every hour and she had just missed the last one. With that in mind she started to explore the streets around the bus stop. She discovered a book store that was about to close and she went in to get something to read while she had to wait. To her surprise when she asked the tired clerk behind the counter Agent David Rossi had written more than one book. They had a single copy of Eyes of a Predator left and she bought it. She stayed in the store till it closed and then sat waiting for the bus her nose in her new book. She ignored the cool weather around her glad it wasn't raining like it had been back home.
When the bus came it was almost empty and the thirty five mile trip was almost an hour. When she was in Quantico she had to ask for directions to the FBI building and discovered she would have to take another bus for a short trip up town. It was very late by the time she arrived at the building and looked up at it. It wasn't much on the outside but what she cared about was on the inside. She realized with how late it was that Mr. Rossi would not be there and so she would have to wait. She found a bench with a lamp light nearby and began to read while she waited. Every now and then she would get up and move or wonder down the street to a gas station to warm up or use the bathroom. When dawn came round she had finished her book, had slight shivers and was very tired. Finding a place to sit between a parking lot on the side of the building and the entrance she waited for Mr. Rossi to come in to work.
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The team was glad to be home after their last case in Idaho and they were tired. They had managed to catch their unsub in the act and save the last victim. Also they had put his accomplice behind bars. Hotch had told them to leave for the night, that they could finish their reports the next day. No one objected and they left the office shortly. Then next morning they all arrived within minutes of each other. They wanted to get this case report over a done with. While they worked Garcia was updating the fire walls on their computers. Some people like Morgan or Prentiss would need it more and some like Reid who didn't have email wouldn't really need it. But it was all the same to Garcia and she would see to it that her babies were looked after when they were on the world wide web.
By the time lunch rolled around they had finished their reports and handed them in to Hotch to look over and file away. All that was left were older reports and cold cases or interview transcripts. None of them were too particular about surfing the web today.
"Hey Prentiss, Reid, you want to go out to lunch? We can ask the others" Morgan sounded board as he leaned back in his chair. He had a large stack of paperwork on his desk that the other knew he like to put off sometimes. However with all the free time they had until JJ picked another case he should have been busy catching up.
"Why not" Prentiss answered eyeing her own stack of paper work sitting on her desk that she was in no hurry to get to.
"Reid?" Morgan asked as both he and Prentiss turned to him. He had his face hidden behind a file as he read his desk a lot emptier then his coworkers. They had never been able to figure out how he got threw them so fast. Sure he could read at the speed of light but it took time to write.
"I'm not that hungry" Reid said not putting down his file.
Morgan looked back and forth between his files and Prentiss's before nodding to her. She stood, grabbing a few of her files and walked to Reid's desk.
"Not hungry, lunch was supposed to be an hour ago" she said loudly enough to cover the sound of her slipping the files into Reid's pile.
He put the file down and looked at the clock on the wall by the elevators. "Okay" he agreed and tried to go back to his file which Prentiss took, closed and set down.
"You get JJ and Garcia, I'll get Hotch and Rossi" she moved away towards the stairs to her supervisors offices.
Reid watched a moment before getting up and following moving the opposite direction at the top of the stairs. When he had ducked into JJ's office Morgan grabbed a few of his files and moved to Reid's desk slipping his own bit into the pile Prentiss had earlier. Grabbing Reid's coat and scarf from his chair he went to get his own and Prentiss's. Morgan had finished putting his on when the rest of the team came down the stairs. Morgan passes Prentiss her coast and Reid his before wrapping the scarf around Reid's neck himself.
"By the way you had better be paying for my lunch if you expect me to do your files" Reid said not looking at his coworkers as the elevator doors closed.
"Busted" JJ said and Garcia laughed, Rossi smiling and Hotch raising an eyebrow in amusement.
Lunch was a lifting mood affair and helped the team get through the rest of the day. And Reid did finish off the files his friends had slipped him. No new case had come in for them so they got to leave at an acceptable time that night.
The next day was very slow for the team as JJ had again not been able to get a case for them. There were a few that might have looked good but with a few calls to the stations the originated from they helped with conference calls and were not need to be physically present. By the end of the day JJ had cleared four cases the team had helped via conference calls, three more that were not mass threats to human life and one that had been solved before JJ could look it over.
"I can't believe I am saying this but there has to be someone out there that needs us" Morgan sighed as he, Prentiss, Reid, Rossi and Garcia got on the elevator to go home for the night.
"Hey enjoy the break in psycho unsubs, who knows when it will happen again and you will be wishing for a chance for a slow down" Prentiss retorted. For once she had plans for the night and they were going to happen, without delays or rescheduling.
"Don't worry my man of action" Garcia chimed in "I am sure something is right around the corner."
"Don't say that you'll jinx us" Reid protested.
"What's the matter Reid, got a date?" Morgan perked up.
"No, but I am just beginning to catch up on some of my readings from a lecture by an up and coming mathematician from Italy and I'd like to be able to finish."
"Whatever man" Morgan smiled and they reached the ground floor, going their own separate ways. Little did they know how right Garcia would be.
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Rosa had seen many people come and go into the building, a few people coming out, but none of them Mr. Rossi. It was still very early and she was getting hungry but she couldn't move in case she missed him. She decided to play a game Peter had taught her while she waited. She would pick a person, watch them and try to guess something about them. She had never been good at it and liked to make up pretend lives for them instead. Peter always smiled when she told him her little stories. An older man with receding hair and pea coat, he could have been a librarian, maybe had some grandkids who he read stories too. A young blond woman in a shape ladies suit, she looked like she could smile a lot and was probably good with kids. A short Asian woman with a large brief case, she might be an artist on the side. A tall middle aged shaved black man, he looked tough maybe he could have been a pro sports player. A tall middle aged woman with black hair and eyes, maybe a very strict teacher. A young man with brown hardly combed hair dressed older then he looked, maybe he was an intern or a student. She sat up a bit straighter when she spotted a middle aged man with black hard and a serious face. She had seen him in a picture with Mr. Rossi on the internet. He didn't look like someone she would want to meet alone or anytime soon. If he was here now would Mr. Rossi be arriving soon? She paid more attention to the people now, no longer playing her game. She got the envelope with the case file out of her bag and hugged it close as she waited and hoped. She didn't have to wait long as she spotted him a few minutes later getting out of his car and starting towards the building. She could only watch for a moment hardly believing it was him. Then she snapped out of it, practically jumped up and hurried towards him. He looked a little older then the picture but this was real life and he was not done up for photos. She started talking before fully reaching him and walked beside him for a second.
"Mr. Rossi, sir. Hi, um can I, I need, if you could look at…oh" she was so excited and nervous she didn't know how to start, she began babbling before she almost tripped, righting herself at the last second. Mr. Rossi had stopped when she had almost tripped and she was glad they were standing still. She took a breath and tried to begin again while fumbling to open her envelope with fingers that were half frozen.
"Sir, I came to show, no ask could, no not the right word, would you look at…" she managed to get the envelope open and pull the thick file out. Eyes darting around she half held out half thrust the envelope at Rossi. Trying to open the file one handed she went on "The case, well they won't listen, they need some help, I got" she never looked at him trying to work with the file until a chunk of it fell out and scattered about the ground. She was frantic to not let the papers get away or anyone else to see, dropping to her knees and raking the papers in with the hand that still had the envelope.
Mr. Rossi squatted down next to her and grabbed a few of the papers she couldn't before a third, female set of hands appeared to help. All the papers gathered and shoved back into the file they stood and Rosa looked at the new comer. A middle aged plump woman with red/brown hair, glasses and a colorful dress looked back. "Thanks" she dipped her head and turned back to Mr. Rossi. He invited her in to talk about the case, well in not so many words but she was on the right track. She let min guide her into the building where she went through security and was met by him and the woman by an elevator. They rode up to the third floor and he maneuvered her past lots of desks with agents, up some stairs and into an office.
"Wait here I will be right back," he said and left closing the door behind him. She sighed and after a second sat in a chair in front of the office desk and used the other chair next to it as a table and began putting her file back in order. She had just finished when the door opened and Mr. Rossi stood there with the serious man she had seen in the picture and coming in this morning.
"Come with us and we'll see about your case" he waited for her at the door. She grabbed her things and followed the two men back down the stairs, through the desks and into a conference room with a large table, lots of chairs and several more agents. Ones she had seen walk in this morning.
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Rossi had been woken early in the morning by his dog and sighed as he got up. As he started his morning routine, he couldn't help but feel slightly down. From the look out his windows and the door in which he let his dog out and later back in, it was a cool cloudy morning. Work had been slow but that could be the calm before the storm and he knew when the storm came it would be bad. By the time he reached work he felt no different and sighed as he got out of his car and headed towards the front of the building. He noticed a young girl coming towards him in a rush out of the corner of his eye. He made himself aware and began mentally preparing himself if she chose to confront him. She was young, maybe eighteen or nineteen, tanned skin, dark eyes, long black hair with red streaks and tips. She started speaking as she came close trying to keep up and almost tripping. He stopped to let her catch her breath and so he could tell her not to bother him unless she could make an appointment. He did not need another fan around him after the disaster of the last one and felt a twinge inside him at the flash of thought. She was already babbling again and trying to open a large envelope she had in her hands. He noticed her fingers were red and slightly uncooperative in her task. Her movements were jerky as she finally got the envelope open and all but pushed the now empty thing at him a large messy file clutched in her other hand. She was trying to open it when some of the papers fell out. Some were report forms, some looked like hand written notes, but what got his attention were the pictures. Crime scene pictures, something he doubted very much this girl should have. He squatted down to help her gather the files and soon another pair of hand were helping. He recognized them as Garcia's and soon all the papers were collected and in the girls hands. They stood up and the girl said her thanks before turning back to him. He cut her off "I think we should do this inside don't you?" and he began steering the girl towards the building Garcia behind them. They went through security and up to the BAU floor. He ignored all the looks they were getting as he lead the girl to his office and left her there with instructions not to leave. He then hurried to Hotch's office.
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Hotch was at his desk sipping his second coffee when Rossi knocked, came in and closed the door. "What's the matter Dave?" He asked concern in his voice. The team wasn't supposed to profile each other but he couldn't help but to look a little deeper at the serious worried look on his friends face. Rossi was also showing regret, disgust and a very tiny bit of annoyance which was covered to anyone who didn't know him so well.
"I got a kid in my office, tried to stop and talk to me this morning about a case. My first thought was a fan, then maybe some police or FBI buff. But she has a real case file she wanted to show me. One I am sure she isn't supposed to have. From the look it's official and she seems to have knowledge of the case. I do not want another Zoe Hawkes or Jill Morris." Rossi jumped right in trying not to raise his voice as he went on.
"What do you want me to do?" Hotch sat straight in his chair appearing calm on the outside. But inside he was like Dave, something like this was never good.
"I don't know, I want to take that case from her but she could probably get a replacement, some of the papers looked copied. I want to send her back to where she came from but that could be dangerous. I don't know what to do really" Rossi rubbed a hand over his face for a moment.
"Let's get the team together, see what she has and go from there. We'll have a better understanding of what can be done" Hotch suggested getting up from his chair. Rossi nodded and they left the office and headed towards the bull pen. The rest of the team was there and JJ was at Prentiss's desk talking.
They noticed Hotch and Rossi at the top of the catwalk outside their offices and stopped to listen to any orders.
"Alright team, round room we'll be there in a minute, be ready" was all Hotch said before he and Rossi moved on to Rossi's office. The team moved to the conference room to wait.
When Rossi opened his office door Hotch caught sight of a young girl with a large file in her hands who turned to look at them.
"Come with us and we'll see about your case" Rossi said and they waited for her at the door. She got her things quickly and they took her to the conference room. She hesitated for a moment when they walked in and Rossi shut the door behind them. "Why don't you sit down and tell me and my coworkers what you need help with?" Rossi changed his voice to sound soothing and used key works to help the girl relax. She moved to the table and sat down slowly but didn't release the file. "You know who I am, this is Agent Hotchner" Rossi gestured towards Hotch. There are Agents Morgan, Prentiss, Jareau, and Dr. Reid. You also met Garcia earlier but she is busy" Rossi finished introducing them.
"Oh, oh I'm sorry manners. I am Rosa Rogers" Rosa introduced herself. She didn't say anything for a second but then the flood gates opened and she started talking a mile a minute. She was very animated and had placed the file on the table pulling papers out as she talked laying them out and moving them in relevance of her talk.
"This case is very important, help is needed, yes. They won't listen but they work hard trying to keep it in house, under control. Serial killer showed up about four months ago, doesn't kill often. Abducts his victims, almost all males but he has killed females. Tortures them, beats them, deprives them, assaults them, has dogs kill them." She had set out photos of the victims, some shots of their torture, some crime scene photos, and some dog photos. There were medical reports in a pile off to the side. "List of offences, the victims, not his. Leaves an ID as the fingers and face are usually shredded or eaten. Lots of blood and DNA, nothing in the system. Picks a place that the crime can happen without interruption but will be discovered later, too many finger prints." Lab reports were spread out, lists of the offences, pictures of buildings. "I know it's probably not right at all but I put together a map of the crimes" a small map with various colored crayon lines and markings was unfolded.
Rosa finished, and chided herself. She had rushed; you are never supposed to rush. Thinks get misinterpreted or lost when things got rushed. Her mind raced trying to think of anything she had missed, something she could elaborate on.
The team listened and watched the girl Rosa as she poured out the case, not seeming to be able to talk fast enough. The pictures and reports she spread out were indeed official if copied. The pictures in color were a testament to how disturbed this unsub was. The lab reports indicated that the unsub was smart. The locations that the unsub must be local to the area.
As Rosa went on all the team members had various thoughts going through their heads.
Reid was concerned about JJ, every since the Hankel case a few years back she had been weary of dogs. She had gotten better over the years but her fear of them had not gone away. Morgan and Rossi both owned dogs so this might be unsettling for them. He had also noticed the lists of offences and coupled with some of the building shots, he though he knew the area that they would be headed to if this was their case.
JJ shuddered inward at the mention of death by dogs but she felt sad too. It was the owners who were the true killers, not the animals and when she saw the list of offences she knew she was right. The lack of media coverage was both a blessing and a bit discouraging.
Morgan loved dogs and was saddened they would be used like this. The fact that the victims were assaulted got him angry when it was done when they didn't have a fighting chance. He thanked Hotch for not having Garcia in here, she would not handle this well.
Prentiss was trying to fit how the unsub could know these supposed offences and how they were used against the victims. She also had a flash of concern for JJ about the use of dogs in such a violent manner.
Hotch was surprised by the amount of information was here, why they hadn't come across this case earlier and the fact that it didn't seem to bother Rosa. She had been concerned enough to bring them the case. Her voice had softened when she mentioned the dogs but other than that there was little reaction to the brutality of the case.
Rossi couldn't believe this was happening, it was like déjà vu. Zoe Hawkes all over again, except this girl was besides being nervous nowhere near as emotional as Zoe had been. Also she had more, seemed to have a personal involvement. Not in as much danger as Zoe had been he hoped. Then the thought of the dogs, that was depressing. But the unsub was clever he had to admit in the fact that with all the evidence he was still undetectable.
"The offences" Prentiss spoke first "is there any truth to them?"
"Some yes, in fact victims one and three had official notes in reports in their police files" Rosa answered pushing a few papers towards her. They were copies of tickets and a rap sheet.
"Does the unsub keep the victims for a while?" Morgan asked moving some of the reports for a better look.
"Sometimes, it seems to depend on the victim. Victim three is estimated to be held for four days before he was killed." Rosa looked at her papers before pushing a few at Morgan.
"This case is in California, San Francisco area or outside it?" Reid had gathered a few photos to look over and had snagged the colorful map.
"Yes, just outside the inner city of Sacramento, I came straight from there, came here soon as I could" Rosa nodded.
"But there hasn't been a lot of press, I'm sure we would have heard something" JJ looked at the growing mess of papers seeing a few newspaper clippings.
"At first they didn't link the crimes till the third, then they wanted to do it themselves. Now they just don't want anyone to know that they aren't doing well, the captain is stubborn." Rosa made a face at the last part and JJ could somewhat sympathize.
"Are these the kind of dogs you suspect the unsub is using?" Prentiss looked over the pictures of a German Sheppard, Golden Retriever, Black Lab, Airedale Terrier, Rottweiler, and Australian Sheppard.
"Yes, there has been some DNA from all those breeds as well as mutts from all the crime scenes combined. I can tell you which ones where found at which scene if you want" Rosa lined up some of the crime scene photos with fir and blood.
All of a sudden a rumbling growl could be heard and seconds later a watch alarm went off. Rosa's cheeks flushed red and she looked down, shutting off the alarm. She reached down and opened a bag she had been carrying with her and pulled out some crackers. "Sugars down not good" she muttered as she opened the package and ate a cracker. Looking up she flushed again "manners" she held out the package. "Would you like some?"
After a moment the team turned her down and she ate a few more crackers. "Any other questions?" Rosa asked looking around at them but not putting the crackers down.
"The DNA, you said it was not in the system. Does that mean the unsub's DNA was at the scene or on the bodies? And can you be sure it's his?" Hotch asked. He was reminded of the Cortland Bryce Ryan case and how DNA had been planted. That had made the case much harder to solve.
"His DNA is at the scenes and in the victims although that was harder to find out as the DNA from the assaults was mixed." Rosa gave him some of the medical files.
"Mixed?" Hotch looked down at the report even though he didn't understand what most of it said. "Who else was it mixed with, are we looking at two unsubs?"
Rosa shook her head as she finished another cracker. "No and the other DNA is a what not a who."
"A chemical? Was the unsub trying to cover his tracks?" Hotch set the reports down.
"No, it's DNA, Canis lupus familiaris." Rosa put away the crackers and took a few of the dog photos and handed them to Hotch "those ones."
No one said anything for a moment as the words sunk in.
"Is there someone I can call?" Rossi spoke up at last. This case had to be worked and he would get them there and if his team didn't want to work it, he would. He would take personal time but he would bet another retirement that the team would take this case. JJ could choke an invitation into the case out of someone if she had to, although he hope it would never come to that.
"Yes, what was I thinking, yes" Rosa grabbed at one of the papers and rummaged a crayon from her bag. She wrote down a number and a name, Peter.
"Rossi took out his cell phone and looked at Hotch who nodded and dialed. The phone on the other end rang three times before it was answered.
"Hello is this Peter? My name is Agent Rossi" Rossi started.
Authors note: Okay so I didn't meet Sunday deadline, I have been busy with the upcoming holiday. Depending on how well this is received (remember you the reader decides) I will post chapter 3 on Wednesday or Friday after the holiday if the cooking gets out of hand. Thanks for reading please review.
