A/N: There's a ridiculously long author's note at the end of this short chapter in which I explain myself, or at least try to. Feel free to ask questions, or harangue me about botched details. I like criticism of any kind.
Penelope had stayed at Quantico, under strict instructions to not leave the building. Much to her lament, Emily had remained in the SUV just outside the Philadelphia station house. It had taken some convincing, but in the end she was injured and held no law enforcement authority in the United States. J.J. was there too, both keeping her company and protecting her. The others had gone into the building, trying not to appear too predatory. However, all bets went out the window when they ran into Detective Rizzo. He had two black eyes, and a freshly broken nose that was more than likely the culprit behind the bruising.
Morgan lunged at the man, and Hotch couldn't completely condemn the action. Once Morgan had the homicide detective pinned against the wall with a firm grip on the man's suit jacket, the full attention of the remaining members of the precinct was on them. It was late, but there were still quite a few bodies in the room.
"Agent Morgan?" Rizzo spoke with a deep Philly accent. "What the hell are you doing?" He wasn't struggling, and that struck Hotch as odd.
"You're under arrest," Derek answered in a low tone. An officer that had approached backed off slightly, and Hotch couldn't tell if it was the words or Morgan's sheer intensity that had caused it. He proceeded to unceremoniously flip Rizzo around, and then reached for his cuffs.
"For what?" Rizzo asked. He was still far too calm.
Morgan looked disgusted. They had practically caught the man red-handed, so Hotch understood the sentiment. Derek answered him anyway. "Abduction, torture and the murders of at least three individuals for starters."
"Where's your proof?" Rizzo demanded knowingly. Morgan's jaw clenched. "I haven't seen any evidence," Rizzo carried on, unflustered.
He was right, every thing they had was circumstantial. "Look at your face, man." Morgan tried anyway, there was always a possibility that Rizzo would slip up.
"You ask anybody here," Rizzo was growing cocky now. "I put a stop to an attempted robbery at a convenience store. I was off-duty last night, right place right time I guess."
That settled it. There wasn't a doubt in Hotch's mind, and he was pretty sure the others were on the same page. Detective Michael Rizzo was the Replicator, but they didn't have a shred of evidence to prove it.
They walked briskly from the police department. Morgan got into the SUV with J.J. and Emily, while the other four jumped into the one parked in front of them. The two women knew better than to question him in the state that he was in. They drove quickly back to the airstrip, to the jet. Not a word was spoken until they were all safely within the confines of the airplane.
"What happened?" Emily asked to no one in particular, but was eyeing Morgan.
"We don't have any evidence and he called us out on it," Hotch replied curtly.
"What about his eyes?" Emily demanded. "That must be rare, right? That would be more than circumstantial evidence."
"It's not possible." Reid looked at her apologetically. "I'm sorry, but it's just not. He did have very dark brown eyes though, or he could have been wearing colored contacts like you suggested earlier." Deep down she knew that he was right, it was Reid, but she was still disappointed by the fact.
"So what," J.J. began, "we just let him go? Give up?"
"No," it appeared that Morgan had finally calmed down. "We keep an eye on him, and we wait for him to screw up."
"That's why he let me go when I got the upper hand." Her eyes shifted from side to side as Emily figured out what had been bugging her since her escape. "He wanted to draw this out. He cut his losses because he was more interested in the longevity of his revenge."
A/N: AH! Sorry if you were expecting a more neatly packaged conclusion. I do think that the season will end like this. Maybe not that they know the bad guy's identity, but I think it's too big of a plot line to wrap it up in the finale. (Edit: I was a little disappointed. I thought we were just getting started with the big baddy.)
I do realize that Rizzo was probably just a red herring, but he said some weird things. Btw, he's from the season eight episode 'Carbon Copy'. The medical Examiner in that episode also gave me the creeps (Maybe they're in cahoots?). I made up Rizzo's first name, and Officer Brown, but he did tell Derek about his partner. And the team WAS in Philadelphia five years ago, that episode was entitled 'Limelight'. I thought that was interesting, but probably just a coincidence.
I did omit some of the other cops that have died while working with the team, but I couldn't remember all of them.
I'm excited for this closer! Feel free to come back, after you've watched it, and ridicule me!
…I've thought about this entirely too much.
The UnSub was based off of the creepy killer in the movies The Collector and The Collection. Josh Stewart (Will LaMontagne) stars in them, and you should check them out if you're into scary movies.
