The case was a brutal one. Spencer always hated these kinds of cases. The ones that were so violent, so full of rage. He'd studied the people that could do this many times and in many ways during his long life, yet Spencer couldn't help but think that he would never fully understand them. The genius sat back in his seat on the jet and stared down at the file in his hands. Spencer much preferred the hard copies to looking at everything on those stupid little computers everyone carried around with them.

Seeing as much death as Spencer had didn't make him immune to it. He had, however, built up a tolerance – an ability to remove himself from it just enough that the scientist inside of him could step forward and observe. It still hurt him. Inside, where he didn't let people see, each body that he saw hurt him. It reminded him what humans were capable of and just how much of monsters they could truly be. Yet he couldn't let it stop him from doing his job. He had to keep it together if he wanted to have any hope of catching the one responsible for this.

This Unsub was already showing quite a taste for violence and it seemed to be escalating with each kill. What had started out as a serial rapist had evolved into a sadistic killer who now held his victims for almost a full day before killing them. Right now the death toll was at four. What he did to them when he had them – reading the reports made Spencer feel sick. The man truly seemed to be a sadist. The type of violence he showed was careful and controlled, meant to hurt and yet, it looked like it was all spaced enough to never completely knock his victim out. He didn't want to allow them the escape of unconsciousness. He wanted them awake and aware of every single moment of pain.

"We're going to have to hit the ground running on this one." Aaron said, his low voice interrupting Spencer's thoughts and bringing him back to the present. The BAU team was spread around their jet, all of them looking at their files. Aaron stood off to the side and looked down at all of them, the mask of the profiler already in place, nothing showing through. "JJ, you and I are going to head to the latest victim's house and speak with her parents. Prentiss, Morgan, I want you two to head to the morgue. Dave, Reid, take the latest dump site; see if maybe you can see anything the others haven't."

Spencer could handle that. Dump sites could be hard, but they could also offer a lot of information.

Looking back down at the folder in his hands, Spencer deliberately avoided looking at the pictures of the dump site. Now that he knew he was going there first he didn't want to cloud his vision with whatever the people snapping the pictures had thought he should see. He wanted to get his own look so he could form his own opinions on what was important. Photographs always left you looking at the things that the photographer thought were important.

The team settled down into their papers and tablets, reviewing everything they'd been given, quiet falling around them. This case was one that needed to be solved quickly. The cooling off period between each death was getting shorter. Only four in and the Unsub's technique was improving as well. He was getting better. He was also enjoying it more.

They needed to stop him before he took another woman.


Everyone hit the ground running once they arrived. Springfield, Missouri wasn't a large town, but it was big enough for there to be a local field office, and they had cars waiting for them all. Everyone split off into their assigned teams and they all headed out, not even bothering to head to the station first. Aaron would go there later and get things squared away once they were done at the victim's house. For now everyone had their jobs to do and they went out to do them.

Spencer continued to look at the files he held as he sat in the passenger seat of the SUV. Even if he hadn't quite found it yet, there was always something in the files to help. Something to clue him in on their Unsub. Sometimes it just took a bit of looking.

"Any ideas yet on what we're looking for?"

Dave's question didn't even make Spencer look up. They were on a case now, their relationship mostly business, and this was an area they were both comfortable in. Spencer let his eyes drift over the words in front of him while he absently answered the other man. "Have you seen the condition of some of these girls? Not what was done to them, but how they were before? Most of them were athletic in some way or another, their bodies in at least somewhat good physical condition."

"Meaning he'd have to be as well." Dave said agreeably.

It made sense. To be able to handle a girl in good physical condition, he was going to have to be in good physical condition as well. Yet, "Why does he blitz attack them, then? Why does he need to subdue them that way if he's physically capable of taking them down himself?"

"He could have something he's trying to hide. A physical deformity, maybe, that puts people off. One that would make him recognizable."

"It could be something as simple as a scar. Something that makes him stand out. Makes him different." It could be a small part of why he'd started with rape, too. Spencer made a brief mental note to bring it up with the rest of the team later.


The walk through the dump site didn't yield them much information. Then again, the fact that they didn't find anything gave them information as well. It told them that the person they were hunting for was smart and meticulous. He'd made sure to pick a space to dump the victim that wasn't visible, so he wouldn't draw any unwanted attention, and there were no cameras nearby to catch anything. He'd left behind no clues. No footprints, no tire tracks - nothing to show that he'd even been here. Just the body of a young girl whose life had been cut way too short, tossed out here wrapped in a tarp and left to lie there like yesterday's garbage.

It made Spencer sick in both body and spirit. He used that sickness, though. Channeled it and used it to fuel his motivation to catch this Unsub.

When Dave took them to the local PD, the rest of the team was already there and the conference room had been set up for them. The first thing that Spencer saw was the giant map pinned up to an old fashioned corkboard and his focus immediately went there.

Because of that, he didn't see the other officers in the room. Nor did he hear any of them try and greet him.

Dave let out a low chuckle as he followed Spencer into the room. While Spencer went straight to the board that had been set up for him, Dave turned his focus to Aaron and the other officers that were staring after Spencer. "You'll have to pardon him." Dave said, one corner of his mouth quirking up. "He tends to get a bit of tunnel vision when working a case."

The older of the two officers shrugged one shoulder and cast a quick look back at Spencer. "If it helps us catch this SOB before another girl gets taken, your guy can be as tunneled in as he wants."

"What is he doing?" The other, younger officer asked. Confusion was written on his face in the furrowed eyebrows and the little lines that grew around his mouth as he watched Spencer.

Dave only had to take one look to understand what was confusing the guy. Really, he didn't even need that. He already knew what Spencer would be doing.

Aaron didn't turn to look. He kept facing the officers even as he confidently answered them, sure in what his agents were doing. "Dr. Reid is working on a geographical profile to try and help us narrow down our Unsub's comfort zone. Hopefully it'll be able to help us narrow down our search."

"In the meantime, the rest of us should gather and see what we can get." Dave said, drawing the conversation back to where it needed to be. "Did Prentiss and Morgan find anything at the Morgue?"

Everyone gathered together at the table. The only person who didn't sit down was Spencer, though he kept an ear on their conversation. A conversation that basically amounted to 'nothing'. No one had found anything that would give them any real clues as to who this might be.

Victimology was most likely going to be their best help here. Trying to figure out what connected the girls together. What made the Unsub choose them?

Was it looks? They all shared a similar build but their appearances varied. One girl was blond, almost a cheerleader type. The next, gothic, with pink and black hair. The third was brunette and clearly a tomboy judging by the shorter hair and the soccer uniform in her picture. The last, another blond, though this one was shyer looking, with glasses that would've probably had her labeled a nerd in school. Their ages ranged from sixteen to twenty. What did these four girls have in common? What did they share that the Unsub was latching on to?

There was always some sort of connection somewhere. Something that would lead them back to their Unsub. They just had to find it.


Sleep didn't come easily for any of the BAU that night.

Though they all went to their separate rooms, each agent stayed up a little later, going over the information that they had. Playing it through in their minds. They knew they had a day, at most, before the Unsub would take another girl. A day in which to find some sort of clue that might lead them to the monster they hunted.

There were sometimes on cases like these that Spencer couldn't help but think how much easier it was to hunt real monsters. Vampires, werewolves, ghosts – they all followed certain patterns. There were rules. Things that you could predict.

Humans were the same, only to an extent. There were things that could be predicted and yet there was so much more that couldn't. There were countless different things that could affect the choices that the Unsub made or the things they did. And the things that a human mind could come up with to do to another human was often far worse than any of the monsters Spencer had ever encountered. The only thing he came across that was worse were demons - which wasn't saying much, really, as demons were simply human souls twisted and broken in hell.

By the time morning rolled around, Spencer was making his way to the coffee shop down the street from their motel in hopes of getting something to wake him up a little bit. He'd noticed the place when they'd been on their way to the motel last night and had made a note of it for just this reason. He'd known he wasn't going to sleep well. None of them ever did while on their cases.

Spencer was surprised to find Derek outside looking like he, too, was on his way out.

The other man looked up at the sound of Spencer's footsteps. Almost instantly a smile touched his lips. He looked Spencer over with a glance that most likely took in every sign of Spencer's mostly sleepless night. Sure enough, Derek huffed out a sound that might've been a laugh and said "You too?"

"Yeah." Spencer didn't even bother denying it. He adjusted his bag over his shoulder and gestured absently in the direction of the coffee shop. "I was just going to go get some coffee to try and wake up a little before we head in. Care to join me?"

"Sure thing, kid."

There were quite a few outside of the BAU who found the friendship between Spencer and Derek a little bit strange. They both fit two totally different stereotypes. The geek and the jock. Yet, Derek was one of the first friends that Spencer had made at the BAU, and he'd become one of the best. He'd been there for Spencer through quite a lot and hadn't been scared away. Even if he sometimes rolled his eyes at the things Spencer said, or got lost in one of Spencer's rambles, Derek was always there to listen to him. Always there to talk to him. If there was anyone that Spencer had ever seriously contemplated revealing his secret to, it was Derek.

The two didn't really say anything to each other as they walked down the road. It was one of the benefits of being close with someone; sometimes there was just no need to talk.

The coffee shop came into view quickly enough and Derek made a happy sound as the door open and the scent of coffee and various bakery items drifted out to them. Bread, sweets, a hint of something with cinnamon. It was enough to make the mouth water. "Oh man, kid." Derek grabbed hold of the door and pulled it open, gesturing Spencer inside. "This place smells delicious. How'd you find this?"

"It was the closest shop to the motel. I hadn't been inside yet." Now that he was, the smell was even better. Spencer stood in the semi full shop and drew in a deep breath of that amazing smell. It brought him back to a different time and a different place when bakeries like this were more common. When you could find your way to one by following your nose down the street.

Derek was looking around as well, his gaze just a bit amused as he took in the not-so-great looks of the place. "You'd think a place that smells like this might at least look a little better." The profiler murmured.

Privately, Spencer had to agree. The place itself was in serious need of some fixing up and the staff didn't really look all that thrilled to be serving. But that was all outweighed by the mouthwatering scent of the food and the almost orgasmic expressions people wore as they ate their food.

Together, the two profilers waited in line until they could finally step up and place their orders. It took a little longer than they might've liked to wait for their turn to order but Spencer was sure that it was going to be worth it. He wasn't surprised when Derek ordered something to eat, the same as he did, to go with his coffee. They also made sure to order coffees and some other pastries for the rest of the team.

"I hope it's as good as it smells." Derek said, waiting with Spencer near the pick-up area. The two were leaning against the wall, all the tables down here taken.

Spencer smiled over at his friend and couldn't quite resist teasing him. "Do you think with anything but your stomach, Morgan?"

"Sure I do." Derek's grin grew wide and he winked boldly at Spencer.

Immediately a blush filled Spencer's cheeks. "Morgan!"

The deep sound of Derek's laughter turned more than a few heads and garnered the man a few appreciative looks. If Derek noticed, he didn't show it. He was looking at Spencer and beaming rather proudly. "You're too easy, pretty boy."

"Now that sounds like fun." Another voice chimed in.

Spencer and Derek both turned to look in the direction of the voice. They found a man standing behind the counter, a bag in one hand and a tray of drinks in the other. Spencer started to smile until his eyes landed on the man's face. Then everything inside of him froze.

The world around Spencer faded away as he stared down into a pair of whiskey colored eyes that he'd seen on a person only once before – and had never expected to see again. He watched as they widened at the sight of him, shock flashing in their depths, telling him that the man recognized him as well.

Frozen, Spencer just stared. "Tomas?"