My thanks to Idril Isil Gilgalad for helping me fix the Spanish in the last chapter (or rather, for fixing it for me). I am in your debt.
The Replicator, Pt 2
They thought they were safe at the mansion, that this stalker didn't know where they lived. They're wrong.
JJ, Prentiss, and Garcia are the first to arrive home. The boys decided to run some errands while they were out. So JJ goes into the kitchen while Prentiss and Garcia go upstairs to their rooms to change. JJ sets her purse down on the table and turns to the fridge before she notices it. Slowly, she turns back to the table.
There's a photo on it. At first, it looks like her, but a second look says it's not. This woman has a different body mass than JJ. Other than that, they could be twins. Slowly, JJ grabs the photo and takes a closer look.
This woman doesn't just look like JJ. She's dead. Her throat has been cut, and even in this close of a picture, JJ can see the back of her head has been surgically removed. JJ raises her hand to her mouth, her entire body starting to shake. She can feel the bile rising in the back of her throat.
In a flash Prentiss and Garcia are back down the stairs. Prentiss has her gun out; Garcia is keeping close behind her. Prentiss turns her attention to JJ. You okay?
Look at this. JJ holds up the picture. Now she notices the writing on the back of it. That same, familiar messy scrawl – Abandon them, and you'll live.
Prentiss shakes her head. Garcia, stay with her. I'm going to check the rest of the house. She reaches out for the others. Hotch, we have a problem.
What's wrong? Is JJ okay?
Physically. Our stalker just turned into a murderer, and he knows where we live. Get back here, now.
We're on our way.
JJ is shaken, but otherwise unharmed. It shakes the others up as well. The girls share a room together that night. Hotch walks into his room after checking on them and sees Reid sitting on his bed, staring at the wall. "Are you okay?"
"I just realized something."
Hotch sits down next to him. "What?"
"Step one is isolation." Reid glances over at him. "He's not targeting me. He's targeting the entire team." He takes a shaky breath. "I'm not sure if I should be happy about this or not, but he doesn't know I'm the freak. He's just taking wild guesses."
"So he's targeting each of us, waiting for one of us to just up and bail." Hotch muses.
"Pretty much." Reid says. "I didn't flinch, so now it's JJ's turn."
For a moment, they sit in silence. Then Reid speaks again. "Do you think he actually killed someone?"
Hotch sighs. He really doesn't want to answer that, but Reid won't accept his lies, either. "Probably. And I doubt he's done killing."
"Six more to go." Reid says flatly. "Then it's on to the real deal. I wonder if he'll stick to the same order."
"That would imply he actually cares about order, and I really don't think he does. I think he's just doing whatever comes into his head first."
"Disorganized."
"Yep."
"It's hard to profile someone from photos."
Hotch sighs. "Go to sleep Reid. I have a feeling tomorrow is going to suck."
Reid nods. "I'm going to stay with the girls."
Hotch smiles. "Keep them calm?"
The younger agent smirks. "Probably not, but at least they'll get a good laugh out of it."
/-/
By the time they are called in, three more people have died. Each one could pass as a twin to a team member, with the right clothes. Each one has had their throat cut and their brains removed. In addition to JJ's twin, there is now a look-alike for Morgan, Rossi, and Hotchner. Not for the first time, Hotch is glad Jack isn't here. This is the last thing his son needs.
Before they can really get started, another body pops up. This one is the spitting image of Garcia. Hotch sighs as he kneels beside the body. Garcia, I don't want you seeing the pictures of this one. he says softly. Back at the police station, he can sense Garcia tense up.
It's me, isn't it?
Yeah. You don't need to see this.
I do, sir. You guys have to. So should I.
He really should have known better. Of course Garcia is going to look. She knows how badly it scares every member of the team, to see these replicas of themselves dead and mutilated. She will not spare herself the same fate.
Of course, it gets worse when it's Prentiss, and again when the last one to die is Reid. Hotch watches as Reid just stands there, staring at the body of his replica (as they've taken to calling them) with a blank look on his face, like he can't quite process what he's seeing. Hotch is about to say something, anything to break the spell, but Reid speaks first.
"I think we need to reassess our opinion of him, Hotch. He's clearly organized."
"How do you mean?"
"Only two of the victims are locals. Garcia says the others have gone missing about the same time our pictures started showing up. That means he kidnapped seven people, controlled them, and stalked us over the course of a few months. Now he's killing them and dumping them here, right where we can find them." Reid shakes his head. "That requires a lot more organization than we gave him credit for."
Reid has a point, and Hotch hates it. The younger agent glances over at him, and Hotch can practically taste the fear. Organized killers are always far harder to catch – and rack up a higher body count – than disorganized killers.
The case isn't moving forward at all, so the team takes a break and heads to a bar for the night. Reid decides to leave early. Hotch agrees to go with him. They walk slowly together down the street, heading back to their hotel. Hotch glances over at him.
"How are you holding up?" he asks.
"About as well as you are." Reid looks up at the sky. "You heard the cop asking about the brains."
"Yeah, I heard." Hotch can't even pretend like that little detail about the crimes doesn't bother him. It's gotten his gut twisted up ever since they saw the picture of JJ. "I really hope that doesn't mean what I think it does."
"It does." Reid whispers. "If he finds us before we find him, he'll make us his own personal guinea pigs. We'll be lab rats."
Those words send a shiver down Hotch's spine.
Suddenly Reid spins around, eyes wide, mouth open to call out a warning to Hotch – and it's all far too late. A second later something hard slams against the back of Hotch's head, and everything goes dark.
/-/
AN: There will be one more chapter after this one, obviously. Oh, and the first story of the Children of the Shadows series is now up! Check it out, it's called The Tendency Towards Compassion.
