A/N: Hello again, everyone!
A shout-out to ahowell1993, Donny Donowitz, Kelly, Susan, Betty, Abbiek54, Skylar, Amy and Martha for either reviewing Chapter 7, favoring and/or following the story.
Again, sorry for the delay! I have school-almost done as I'm about to graduate, independent study-working on a book, internship, part-time job, etc.
My apologies if I had made any mistakes but do enjoy the chapter!
Also, I've decided to skip around the episodes.
"Reid." Hotch looks up from his work as Reid enters his office and took a seat. "How were your Valentine's Day Plans with Élise?"
"Great," Reid answered. "We went to dinner, saw a movie, and the Smithsonian."
"Wow. And thanks again for taking Jack to the National Children's Museum the other day."
"Any time, Hotch. Also," Reid digs into his satchel bag and hands Hotch the ring box. "Can you hold on to this for me, please?"
"Why?"
"You'll keep it safe and you'll know when it'll be the right time for me to propose."
"Have you asked for her father for his blessing?"
"Élise is going to reach out to her family. She doesn't exactly have the best relationship with them right now, but…"
Hotch hands back the ring box. "I know you trust me with it, but at least try and get her father's blessing first okay?"
"No problem. And Élise said the same thing." Reid said as Hotch looks at his phone. "We have a case?"
"Yes," Hotch answered as he rose from his seat. "Let's get the rest of the team in the conference room."
JJ gets the team started. "The crimes are within a 7-mile radius."
"Well, that's something." Morgan noticed.
"Yeah, but the neighborhoods are all completely different. They range from poor to rich, industrial to residential." Emily said.
Hotch is next, "The physical locations are dissimilar, but the operating zone's well-defined."
"Ok. I'm in." Garcia hacks into Zoe's laptop.
"I see you," Rossi said.
"In your web browser for search history. Check out her home page."
"All right, so the first thing she looks at when she opens her computers is a crime column. probably to stay current on her studies." Morgan notes before asking, "Can you see what she worked on last?
"Voila. These are the most recently opened documents she created."
"Looks like she was compiling empirical data about homicide trends in Cleveland." Reid leans in.
Emily asked, "Do you think she knew the killer?
"I don't see any notes indicating suspects."
"Well, Dave, she's a criminology student," Hotch notes. "She's been taught to analyze statistics and apply theory, not investigate killers. Let's talk about what we know."
"All right. Victim one- Travis Bartlett was last seen at a gay bar. He was shot at night in a park. Victim 2, Lily Nicks, a 34-year-old prostitute, her throat was slashed. Victims 3 and 4, June Appleby and Troy Wertsler, were shot in their car at a parking lot outside of a movie theater. And victim 5 was a 28-year-old single woman, Kayla James, killed in her home. She was bound, suffocated with a bag over her head, evidence of rape."
"And then the sixth victim was Zoe," Prentiss concludes.
"Victimology, weapons used, and C.O.D. are all different. It's hard to imagine it's even the same unsub."
"It can't be a coincidence that Zoe goes to Kayla James' house and gets murdered."
Hotch asked, "All right, let's say it is the same killer. Does anybody see a pattern?"
"Well, maybe. Ok, the first crime, he shoots the victim. The second crime, he rapes a woman and slashes her throat. That's more personal. And the third crime, he escalates to killing two people, And the fourth, he escalates even more by raping a woman, binding her, and suffocating her."
"So, if it is the same unsub, you could argue that there's a progression of violence with every kill."
"It could be an anger excitation offender getting more daring with each crime." Reid thinks, rubbing his chin.
"I think I got something here. Look at the slashes in the prostitute's throat—they're all shallow, unsure cuts. The Kayla James crime scene- telephone cord, rope, and duct tape were used. It like he couldn't decide how to bind her." Morgan examines the pictures.
"So, without a gun, he's sloppy, inexperienced."
"The young couple shot in the car... That crime scene remind you of anything?
"Yeah, they were shot with a .44 bulldog, just like the Son of Sam used on his victims, which were also young couples in parked cars. It might be nothing, but you're right, there is a parallel there." Reid was thinking was Morgan was thinking.
"With the second victim, it's hard not to think of jack the ripper. The obvious similarity being it's a prostitute whose throat was slashed."
As Hotch goes through the pictures, "Kayla James was bound, tortured, raped, with a plastic bag over her head like BTK."
"What about victim number one?
"Garcia, what neighborhood was he found in?
With Garcia typing, "At a park in the Kingsbury run area."
"Zoe reminded me last night that Cleveland's most famous serial killer was the butcher of Kingsbury Run. He found his victims in gay bars, shot them, and dumped their body there. Travis Bartlett was last seen at a gay bar, and his body was found in Kingsbury park." Rossi concludes.
"So, these are copycats of famous serial killers?"
"He's a serial killer studying serial killers. See you in Cleveland, Dave."
"So, you're heading to Cleveland," Élise asked Reid when he called to notify her that he's heading out-of-state for a case.
"Yup."
"Well, you be careful, okay, babe? Or that unsub is going to have to deal with me."
Chuckling, "Same with you, babe."
"I love you, baby." Élise gushes.
"I love you too, baby." Reid quietly said before hanging up.
"I love you as well, baby." Morgan teased him before laughing.
"Shut up."
Reid and the rest of the team met up with Rossi and a Detective Brady who would be helping them on the case. They explain that this unsub might be copycatting several famous killers; from the Bitcher of Kingsbury Run to BTK; basically, every time he plans, he plans to kill, everything else changes. From murder weapon to MO to victimology. Detective Brady was a bit unsure, but the team assured him.
Reid, Morgan, and Prentiss stood in front of the precinct officers, informing them at the six homicides in the 7-mild East Cleveland radius indicates the unsub's a geographically stable offender, who is characterized as young, socially immature, Of average intelligence, with psychopathic personality traits. They're anti-social-natured loners and the first murder by a serial killer is telling; while the Butcher of Kingsbury Run isn't a well-known serial killer, he's a local legend and the unsub used his MO in his first murder. This indicates he's a Cleveland native and grew up listening to the Butcher stories. This unsub is obsessed with serial killers and his computer will be filled with research on them and will have abundant images of murderers on his computer and possibly even snuff films. He uses these like pornography and provides some sort of sexual release.
That evening later, Reid and Morgan got a call and followed Detective Brady to a ravine where a man's body was pulled after teenagers found him. After Reid turns on his flashlight,
"It's petechiae in the whites of his eyes. Judging from the bruising, he was probably strangled with a wire."
"Is this our guy?" Detective Brady asked.
"It's gotta be." Morgan thinks. "A jogger doesn't get garroted every day."
"Whatever signature he left was probably washed away in the water," Reid added.
"Well, who's he mimicking now?" Detective Brady asked as Morgan crouched down.
"Bike path rapist Altemio Sanchez comes to mind," Reid suggested. "He trolled bike paths near buffalo garroting his victims. "It looks like he copied everything except for the rape."
"Strangulation's a repetition of his last murder of Zoe. First time he's repeated himself."
"Zoe's murder was spontaneous, though," Reid added. "He didn't plan it. He acted on instinct and did what came naturally to him."
"Maybe what came naturally felt good to him and he wanted to feel it again."
"If he's starting to repeat a pattern, he may have found himself," Reid concludes.
The next morning,
"Good morning, lovey." Élise greets him over the phone.
"Good morning to you, too, love."
Élise giggles. "So…how's the case?"
"Brutal. It's hitting Rossi hard a bit because he talked to one of the victims before her death."
"Oh, my…" Élise had her hand over her mouth. "Well, perhaps I can take him out for a dinner night at one of the exclusive restaurants in the DC area."
"I think he would like that."
"Anyway, I better get going. I have a boatload of paperwork to do."
"Don't let me keep you waiting."
Giggling, "Okay. Bye, babe."
"Bye-bye babe."
The next morning in the conference room, Reid, Hotch, and Rossi were going through everything Zoe had on her computers; from newspapers to articles to her journals. Knowing that Zoe couldn't possibly have known about every murder, they suggested they go through missing persons' reports. They briefly stopped for a moment when JJ gave Rossi a warning look.
Sheila Hawkes walked in, on the verge of tears. She wishes to be left alone after Rossi revealed to have been the one to pay for her services. Seconds after that, Detective Brady walked in after getting off the phone with reports of another body in East Cleveland.
After leaving with Hotch,
"This is recent," Spencer looks at the body. "The bruises on her neck are still reddish."
"No other obvious signs of trauma," Hotch added.
Detective Brady asked, "Well, this isn't a bike path like the last one. Which serial killer is he mimicking now?"
"I don't think he is mimicking anymore," Reid suggested. "He's starting to show consistency. I think he's developing his own style."
Hotch asked Detective Brady, "Has anybody touched her?"
"No," Det. Brady answered. "They have instructions to wait for us and the ME."
"Where is he?" Hotch wondered where the ME was.
"Dr. Edwards!" Det. Brady motions the ME to come towards them "Here he comes."
"Agent Hotchner." Hotch introduces himself. "Uh, could you take a look at this spot on her forehead?"
"That's strange," Dr. Edward said as Hotch pointed out something. "Let me swab it and get it back to the lab."
"Thanks."
After Garcia got info on the potential unsub, Hotch, Reid, as well as everyone else, raided Eric Olson's apartment. Once they got the all-clear,
"Reid, check the computer," Hotch orders. "Detective, we should talk to the neighbors, find out where he goes, where he might be on a weeknight."
Rossi came into the room.
"Aaron. He's reading my books." Rossi notices.
"Reid, anything?" Hotch asked as he approached Reid and Det. Brady going through Eric's computer. Pulling up a calendar before an address caused Det. Brady to look at him, Hotch, and Rossi.
"Al's Alehouse, Hotch concluded. "That's like five miles away."
"It's on the schedule for tonight."
"You stay here, Reid," Hotch ordered.
"Okay." Reid obeyed.
"Reid." He answered.
"Hotch."
"I need something," said Hotch. "Anything that might show where he was trolling for more victims."
"We've been through everything," Reid sighed as he walked into Eric's apartment hallway.
"He marked up Rossi's books. Check the bookcase," Hotch suggested. "Maybe he was scouting for locations to commit more murders."
"Pictures," Spencer said to himself when he noticed the pictures on the wall.
"What?"
"Framed photographs in his hallway." Reid noticed. "Nothing else…nothing else is framed. They look like originals. Let me call you right back, Hotch."
"Okay," Hotch said before hanging up and Reid examines the picture after quickly removing it.
Reid calls Hotch back after going through the photos.
"Yeah, Reid." Hotch answers.
"I found pictures on his computer in a special folder he created," Reid said. "They're scenic places in the city. Three of them I recognize from his crime scenes. There are more pictures of places I don't recognize."
"Email them as soon as you can." Hotch orders.
"Alright." Spencer got right on it; thanks to Élise, he's more in touch with email.
After Detective Brady profoundly thanked them for helping them capture Eric Olson, the team was on the next flight home. As the team stepped out of the elevator,
"Élise," Reid was surprised to see his girlfriend already there. "What are you…?"
"You guys were coming, so I finished my work early and came here."
"You didn't have to do that," Reid moves closer.
"But I wanted, too, sweet thing," Élise whispers before allowing her lips to touch his lips.
"Must you kiss in front of us?" Morgan asked.
"If you don't like the view, then I suggest you kick rocks and don't let the rocks trip you like your occasional ego," Élise told him. Minus Hotch, the team tried not to control the movements of their mouths. "Also, Rossi. I'm sorry to hear about what happened; Reid told me."
"I'm okay," Rossi assures her.
"Still, I want to treat you to a dinner night at Mia Bella."
"Mia Bella?"
"Yeah-yeah." Élise shook her head.
"I think I'm loving you even more," Rossi smirked.
"Uber-exclusive restaurant." Prentiss added.
"She knows people. You're all welcome to come. Even you, Morgan." Reid wraps his arm around Élise.
"Yay," Garcia walked in, gushing in excitement. "I love a good family dinner night. Also, I want to see more of those photos of your cousin's baby girl, Reid."
"Don't worry, you will," Élise assures her. "And as an added bonus, I'll even tell you how I made Spencer's dad wet himself."
"You made Spencer's dad wet himself?" Morgan said, surprised.
"Yup." Reid proudly smiles at Élise before giving her another kiss.
"Now I'm really not to get on your bad side," Morgan said.
"Good. Because you certainly do not want to, Morgan." Elise agrees before she and Reid gave each other another kiss.
