Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds.
A/N: Shout out to tannerose5, guest, and TVHollywoodDiva for reviewing chapter 37.
This chapter starts 12 hours after the last chapter.
Let's just say that Clarissa decided to celebrate Spencer's birthday a day early since they both have work on Spencer's birthday while knowing that there's a possibility that Spencer will do something with his team on the day of his birthday.
Clarissa looked at her husband as they changed out of their church clothing.
"So what should we do this afternoon before we head over to Aaron's for your early birthday dinner?" asked Clarissa as she watched her husband change into jeans and a polo shirt.
"Go hiking at Rock Creek Park." said Spencer.
"We should definitely pack a picnic." said Clarissa.
A few minutes later Spencer and Clarissa were getting into clothing that were suitable to wear on a hike before they packed a picnic basket while Diana finished up her nap.
An hour later Spencer was giving Diana a piggy back ride as he and Clarissa walked on the trails at Rock Creek Park.
Later on that evening Spencer was blushing while Clarissa, Hotch, Haley, little Diana, and Lucy sang Happy Birthday to Spencer, and after everyone was done singing, Spencer blew out the two candles that spelled 25 before Diana who was on her daddy's lap looked up at her daddy.
"Can we please eat cake now?" asked Diana as she eyed the cake that she watched her mommy, auntie Haley, and Lucy make together while her daddy and uncle Aaron played with her cousin.
"Sure we can, baby girl." said Spencer.
"I no baby. I big girl. said Diana.
Spencer's face saddened a bit before looking at his little girl.
"No matter how big you get, you'll always be my baby girl." said Spencer before looking at Haley, "Is Jack going to get a taste of birthday cake before his upcoming first birthday?" asked Spencer.
Haley looked at her baby boy who was sitting in his high chair eying the birthday cake.
"I think I will," said Haley.
A few minutes later the Reids, Hotchners, and Lucy were all eating birthday cake.
Three hours later Spencer stepped out of the master bathroom with a towel wrapped loosely around his waist, and as soon as his glasses unfogged he groaned at the sight of his wife wearing nurse themed lingerie while holding a plate that held a piece of leftover birthday cake.
"How about I feed you some cake in bed?" asked Clarissa.
Spencer nodded while he felt his body react to the lingerie that Clarissa was wearing, and a minute later Spencer was sitting up in bed with Clarissa straddling him as Clarissa fed him birthday cake while knowing what would happen next.
The next day Clarissa looked at her two and a half year old daughter as she held a tray that consisted of enough breakfast for her, Spencer, and little Diana.
"Now go wake up daddy." said a whispering Clarissa.
"OK, mommy." said Diana.
30 seconds later Spencer woke up to Diana on top of him.
"Wake up, daddy." said Diana.
A few seconds later Spencer had his glasses on and he looked at his smiling wife.
"Happy birthday, honey." said Clarissa as she gave her husband a kiss on the lips.
"Thanks." said Spencer as he playfully grabbed his daughter.
"We should eat since we both have to get ready for work." said Clarissa.
A few minutes later the family of three were eating breakfast together before Spencer and Clarissa got ready for work.
Later on that evening, Spencer entered the living room and he smiled when he saw Clarissa and Diana cuddling on the couch together watching cartoons together.
"There's my two favorite girls." said Spencer.
"Daddy!" exclaimed Diana as she climbed off the couch and ran to her daddy.
"I missed you today." said Spencer as he gave his daughter a big hug and a kiss.
"I miss you too." said Diana.
"What about me?" asked Clarissa as she made her way to her husband.
"I missed you too." said Spencer as he gave his wife a kiss.
"How was your birthday dinner with your team?" asked Clarissa as she thought about Spencer occasionally going out to eat with his teammates so he's not always isolating himself from his teammates.
"It went well." said Spencer as he set down his daughter so he could reach into his messenger bag and pulled out a few books and gift cards, "These are gifts that I received from my teammates today." said Spencer.
Clarissa looked at the gifts.
"Nice." said Clarissa.
Diana looked up at her daddy.
"Sweep wit you and mommy?" asked Diana.
Spencer and Clarissa looked at each other.
"Sure you can, sweetie." said Clarissa before looking at the clock and saw that it was 8 PM, "Its bath time." said Clarissa.
Diana looked at her daddy.
"You give me bath." said Diana.
"I can, baby girl." said Spencer as he swooped up his little girl.
An hour later Diana was fast asleep in bed between her parents who also decided that an early bedtime were calling their names.
Two days later Spencer was in the round table room with his teammates.
"Over the past two months, the L. A. Field office has been tracking a series of 4 bank robberies in the L. A. Metro area. It's one individual wearing a black ski mask. He's highly skilled. It's his unique M. O. That put him squarely in our court. This happened two days ago." said JJ as she played the security camera footage that she was sent.
"He's making them undress?" asked Hotch.
"He takes their clothes and locks them in the vault, then he goes for the cash." said JJ.
"Smart. Nobody's going to run after him butt naked." joked Morgan.
"It's also a psychological advantage. Make the captives feel exposed, intimidated, and much less likely to fight back." said Spencer.
"That, and the Mac-10 he's waving around. Boy's got a lot of firepower." said Morgan.
"But why is this case for us?" asked Elle.
"Because in the last robbery, two things changed. One, he beat the security guard nearly senseless, and two, after he made everyone undress, he forced two pairs of victims together at gunpoint, then he made them simulate sex with each other." said JJ as she showed the faces of the four victims.
"Woah." said Elle.
"It's remarkable. By utilizing a practical MO the unsub has stumbled on to a psychological signature. It's fascinating." said Spencer.
"He's a sex offender now." said Elle.
"Fueled by violent rage. Only our unsub doesn't know it yet. If he did, he wouldn't be robbing banks anymore." said Gideon.
"So, he's a violent sex offender in denial." said JJ.
"And a sexual predator who's just escalated his crimes." said Hotch.
"He's a serial killer in the making." said Gideon.
After Hotch gave everyone a departure time, he looked at his teammates.
"Can everyone except Reid please leave this room?" asked Hotch.
Morgan, JJ, Elle, and Gideon left the room and a minute later Hotch looked at Spencer who was trying to keep his emotions in check.
"Are you sure your able to handle this case despite what happened to you nearly 13 years ago?" asked Hotch.
"If your talking about the goal post incident that caused a bunch of my classmates to get expelled and registered as sex offenders, I can handle this case since I had a lot of therapy after that incident." said Spencer.
"I know, but If you need to step back from this case, please let me know." said Hotch.
"I promise." said Spencer.
A minute later Spencer was at his desk sending Clarissa a text message.
I'M GOING TO LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA. I LOVE YOU. ~ SR
A few seconds later Spencer felt someone ruffling his hair causing him to look up at Haley who had a slight smirk on her face.
"Really, Mrs. Hotchner?" asked Spencer as he smoothed out his hair.
"I couldn't help it, Spencer." said Haley before looking serious at the young man who married her sister in law, "Is Aaron in his office?" asked Haley.
"He is." said Spencer as his phone vibrated causing him to see a text from Clarissa.
YOU AND AARON BETTER STAY SAFE. LOVE YOU TOO. ~ CR
"Hopefully I'll see you later, Spencer." said Haley before heading towards the stairs that led to her husband's office.
Elle grabbed the newspaper article that she had printed.
""Stripping bandit." That's terrible. That makes it sound like the bandit's doing the stripping." said Elle as she sat down next to Hotch.
"What would you call him?" asked Spencer.
"Pervert." said JJ.
"Scumbag." said Elle.
"I'd call him an ass." said Morgan.
Hotch looked at Morgan.
"Hey, focus, please. We have the details of the 4 bank robberies to learn before we get to Los Angeles." said Hotch.
"At this point is he more a bank robber or a sex offender?" asked Spencer.
"Seriously. What's he going to do next, rob a bank or rape somebody?" asked Morgan.
"I'd say we need to know more about how he robs the banks and who he chooses to victimize." said Elle.
"Why these banks and why these victims?" asked Hotch.
"Pairing these specific people together is a fantasy. If we can figure out the nature of that fantasy, we may be able to predict his targets." said Gideon.
"Hmm." said Elle before looking at her teammates, "In the last robbery I don't see any photos of what he made the victims actually do." said Elle.
"There is a problem with this surveillance system. We're working on it." said JJ.
"We should hit the ground running. How should we break it down?" asked Hotch.
"There's got to be a pattern to the banks. We should run a geographical profile." said Spencer.
Hotch looked at his brother in law.
"That's yours." said Hotch.
"And for the sexual aspects, we need to look at the specific victimology." said Elle.
Hotch looked at Elle and thought about how she has been distant since Spencer told him that she barely comes over for dinner anymore to interact with Diana.
"You and I can go with the victim reports, see whatever surveillance footage they've got." said Hotch.
"Leaves the unsub himself. We'll need his perspective." said Gideon as he looked at Morgan.
"Crime scene." said Morgan.
Spencer looked at JJ who asked him to show her how to do a geographical profile as he drew a square on the clear board that contained a built in map of LA.
"Basically, we assume the suspects will hunt close to where they live, but far enough to remain anonymous. Each one of these data points represents a bank that he hit, and this area where the lines intersect give us the best estimate of the unsub's home." said Spencer as he finished the geographical profile.
"So, how many does that narrow it down to?" asked JJ.
Spencer stared at the map as he made a calculation.
"Couple hundred thousand." said Spencer.
"Oh." said JJ.
A short while later Spencer was standing next to Agent Wallace as he watched the security camera footage that Agent Wallace was showing them.
"That's Henderson, the bank manager. Said he was so flustered after what he had been through, that when he was gathering the tapes for us, he hit the wrong buttons and erased part of them." said Agent Wallace.
"You believe him?" asked Hotch.
"No. I told him I thought he was embarrassed about the tapes getting out and he erased them on purpose. He denied it." said Agent Wallace.
"You rule out the possibility he was in on it?" asked Hotch.
"Why would he be involved in a robbery when he had to go through something like that?" asked Agent Wallace.
"Maybe he didn't know what was gonna happen. Maybe he was betrayed by the unsub." said Elle.
"Or perhaps he was coerced. There's been many documented cases of robbers forcing bank managers to assist them with their crimes." said Spencer.
"None of that is consistent with the MO's of the other robberies." said Agent Wallace.
"Maybe there's a reason this last one was different from the others." said Morgan.
Detective Murad came over.
"A call from Quantico on one." said Detective Murad.
"Thanks." said Hotch before answering the phone, "Garcia, it's Hotch." said Hotch.
"Are we ready for something completely weird?" asked Garcia through the phone.
"How weird are we talking, Garcia?" asked Morgan.
"The security footage Hotch gave me, I ran it through my software 3 times..." said Garcia.
"And?" asked Hotch.
"And there are weird height issues. I. e., the unsub in the first three robberies is 6 foot 1 and the unsub in the last robbery, he's 5'10"." said Garcia.
"So what? In the last robbery we're dealing with a different unsub?" asked Morgan.
"An unsub who is somehow able to erase tapes that show exactly what happened at that bank." said Hotch.
"An unsub who may have possibly had inside help." said Spencer.
"I think it's time we sit down with the bank manager." said Gideon.
The next day Spencer was sitting at the table they were given to use when the land-line rang causing Morgan to answer the phone.
"Yeah?" asked Morgan.
"Pals, don't be ticked, but I think I may have missed the sort of glaringly obvious here. How would you make yourself taller without being a different person entirely or having some sort of weird Chinese surgery?" asked Garcia.
"Heels." said Elle.
"Right, sunshine, but would have seen heels, unless the unsub had them hidden inside his shoe. The point is, lifts." said Garcia.
"Lifts." said Morgan.
"Lifts, all hidden up inside his boot. With a little fancy footwork, pun emphatically intended, Garcia here managed to dig him out." said Garcia.
"Thanks, girl." said Morgan before hanging up, "He's trying to throw us off, hide his real height." said Morgan.
"But why would he take the lifts out just for the last robbery?" asked Elle.
"Maybe he's getting careless." said Hotch.
"Which means he's also getting more dangerous." said Spencer.
"At least we know we're only dealing with one unsub." said Morgan.
"Based on the knowledge that spending a significant time in prison stunts emotional growth while increasing professional skills, we can estimate this unsub went to jail between the ages of 18 and 22 and spent between five and ten years inside." said Hotch.
"That puts him at the approximate age between 23 and 35." said Elle.
"This guy's much more than just a bank robber though. What started out as a practical MO, stripping his hostages, triggered a deep psycho-sexual response." said Hotch.
"In other words, when he found himself in front of a bunch of naked people under his control, he snapped, then he decided to manipulate them." said Morgan.
"And better, or just getting worse, he's attacking banks earlier in the day when more and more people are present." said Elle.
"This sounds like he's sacrificing the safety of having just a few hostages to contain, for the satisfaction of having more subjects to control." said Morgan.
"He'll be less interested in money and more interested in sadistically manipulating his captives." said Spencer.
"In all likelihood, he'll be high on drugs." said Morgan.
"It would be wrong, however, to write this guy off as crazy. Bank robbing is an ambitious crime and it takes time and planning to pull it off." said Hotch.
"What makes this unsub unique is his fractured psyche. On the one hand, a cold, organized bank robber. On the other, a disorganized sexual sadist full of bottled up rage. The two parts of his psyche have just begun to bleed together, now when they finally converge, we're talking about a criminal with the skills and efficiency of a master bank robber and the rage of a suicide bomber. He will explode." finished Gideon.
A few seconds later Agent Wallace approached them.
"Sir, bank robbery in progress. Corner of Washington and Sepulveda. Kid in the back room called 911 on his cell. Said the suspect's started making people undress." said Agent Wallace.
Spencer was going through files with Elle and JJ.
"So, you're sure this is it?" asked Elle.
"Yeah. Based on all the parameters, age, armed robbery charge, time spent in prison, approximate location of home address based on geographical profile. It's about 360 names." said JJ.
"These guys aren't sweethearts, but there's only a handful with sex crimes on their rap sheets and none are sexual sadists." said Elle.
"That's not surprising. Bank robbers and gun nuts aren't typically s*x offenders. That's what makes this unsub unique." said Spencer.
"What about a pimp? Roland Lynch, 32 years old." said JJ.
Spencer looked at JJ.
"Pimps are characteristically sociopathic and, in many cases, sadistic." said Spencer.
"Helps control their employees." said Elle.
"Well, this one started out robbing convenience stores before working his way into pimping." said JJ.
"That's unusual. Pimps typically violate by proxy, forcing others to do the work for them, whereas, bank robbers usually operate in pairs or alone." said Spencer.
"So, he's sexually sadistic and has experience with armed robbery." said Elle.
"Along with fitting all other parameters of the profile." said Spencer.
"All right. I'll get in touch with his parole officer." said JJ as she got up and walked away.
Spencer stood with his arms crossed as he watched surveillance footage.
"According to witnesses, he came in and fired into ceiling. He separated all the kids from their parents. Then?" asked Detective Murad.
"He's forcing the sons to hit their mothers." said Spencer softly.
"He started to. When he tried to get the first one to hit his mother harder, he refused, and when he refused..." said Detective Murad as he couldn't explain what happened next.
Spencer looked at his brother in law with a worried look on his face.
"It doesn't make sense. They're children." said Hotch as he thought about his nearly one year old son and his two and a half year old niece.
"He's playing out a fantasy." said Gideon.
"Yeah, but it's his fantasy and someone else's children." said Hotch.
"They're surrogates of some kind." said Morgan.
"No. You don't do this to someone else's kids to get off. You just don't do it." said Hotch before walking away causing Gideon to follow him.
After Hotch told everyone about the conversation he had with Darren, Morgan was the first to speak up.
"He apologized." said Morgan.
"Sadists don't apologize. They gloat, maybe, but they don't apologize." said Elle while Spencer took a sip of his coffee.
"Our guy's not a sadist. We got that part of the profile wrong." said Gideon.
"He doesn't derive any sadistic pleasure from these fantasies, they're more like a compulsion." said Elle.
"Compulsion that's literally life or death? I mean, if anyone interferes, he kills them. It's like he's compelled to direct these fantasies using these people as actors." said Spencer.
"Actors on a stage, it's a play." said Morgan.
Gideon and Elle both looked at Spencer.
"It's a psychodrama." said Spencer.
"What's that?" asked JJ.
"It's a form of psychotherapy whereby actors serve as surrogates for actual people in the patient's life." said Spencer.
"Incorporates many elements of theatre, including an audience." said Gideon.
"There's a very famous pilot program at the San Luis Obispo county jail in the mid-nineties." said Spencer.
"Isn't that just a couple hours away from here?" asked JJ.
"Let's go over the suspect list and see how many of them did time in San Luis Obispo." said Hotch.
"The answer is 4." said Garcia.
"Come on. Tell me you narrowed it down a little more than that." said Morgan.
"Only two live in state, but only one lives in LA." said Garcia.
"Ha, that a girl." said Morgan.
"Caleb Dale Sheppard, last known address 236 Harbor Lane, Inglewood." said Garcia.
"Thanks, mama." said Morgan before hanging up.
"That's only 1.6 miles from the last restaurant that he hit." said Spencer before getting looks from his teammates, "I've been studying a lot of LA maps." said Spencer.
"If he's been attacking that close to home, he's given up any interest in protecting his identity." said Hotch.
"We need to all go down there and split up, half to his address, half patrol in the area around the restaurant in case he's on the hunt." said Gideon.
Spencer looked at Mrs. Sheppard.
"Mrs. Sheppard, do you know where your son is?" asked Spencer.
"Dale doesn't live here anymore." said Mrs. Sheppard.
"Where is he, Mrs. Sheppard?" asked Hotch.
"He's a grown man." said Mrs. Sheppard.
"You have any idea how much trouble your son could be in?" asked Gideon.
"Dale? He's a good boy. Lost his way a bit, that's all." said Mrs. Sheppard.
"Well, that's one way to look at 12 years in and out of prison." said Hotch.
Mrs. Sheppard looked at Hotch.
"You've never made a mistake?" asked Mrs. Sheppard.
"Your son spent time in a juvenile home?" asked Gideon.
"He was out of control, even attacked his own sister once, but his father died. It wasn't his fault." said Mrs. Sheppard.
"Was it yours?" asked Gideon.
"What?" asked Mrs. Sheppard.
"Was it your fault?" repeated Gideon.
Spencer quickly noticed a bottle of pills causing him to realize why Mrs. Sheppard was acting the way she is causing him to rattle a bottle of pills to gain Mrs. Sheppard's attention.
"How many of these did you take today, Mrs. Sheppard?" asked Spencer.
"I had... Back problems my whole life." said Mrs. Sheppard.
Spencer approached Hotch and Gideon after he got off the phone with Garcia.
"That was Garcia. Apparently Sheppard's sister died 12 years ago, suicide." said Spencer.
"Lady sure did a number on her kids." said Gideon.
"She's probably lonely after the husband died and on painkillers, not in her right mind, and nobody there to turn to but Sheppard and his sister." said Hotch.
"So, now he's symbolically punishing his mother?" asked Spencer.
"He's playing out a fantasy. Sons gaining total control over their mothers." said Gideon just as Detective Murad came over with a matchbook.
"We got something." said Detective Murad.
Hotch took what the detective found.
""Dale daybreak hotel."" said Hotch causing all three men to hurry to an SUV.
Spencer was sitting in the backseat of a car while Hotch drove around the area.
"If he's on foot, he must still be in the neighborhood. How do we find him?" asked Spencer before he grabbed the map he brought with him.
"At this point, he'll probably hit the first thing that catches his attention." said Hotch.
Gideon thought that he should help the two family men of the team out.
"Families." said Gideon.
"A public place. If the trend continues, he'll look for a bigger audience." said Hotch.
"Public place with families." said Gideon.
"Guys, there's a public park not far from here." said Spencer.
"Where?" asked Hotch as he thought about the times that he and Spencer would take Jack and Diana to the park when Haley and Clarissa had a girls day out.
".6 miles from where we are now. .9 miles from the hotel where the unsub's staying, which we'll actually pass if we take a right at the next light." said Spencer.
Hotch turned on the sirens so he could drive faster to the park, and a few minutes later they approached Detective Murad.
"There's no sign of him." said Detective Murad.
"We've got cruisers everywhere. Where could he be?" asked Hotch.
Spencer looked around his surroundings.
"There's only a few blocks between here and his hotel." said Spencer.
"He's got to be really close." said Gideon.
A minute later they were heading into a backyard where another birthday party was happening causing Spencer's heart to drop at the sight of a little boy who was being held at knife point, pointing a gun at his mother.
"Put it down." said Gideon.
"Drop the knife." ordered Hotch.
Caleb shook his head.
"It won't fix you, Sheppard. It doesn't matter what you make them do, how many people are watching you." said Gideon.
A few seconds later Hotch shot Caleb in the shoulder, and as soon as the mother grabbed her little boy, Spencer quickly grabbed the gun and switched the safety on before removing the bullets.
"Oh, my God. Got him. It's okay, baby." said the mother.
A couple of hours later a covered up Spencer was curled up on couch on the jet while being unaware that Hotch and Gideon were both looking at him.
"Isn't it amazing that we got to watch him grow up for nearly six years?" asked a whispering Hotch as he thought back to meeting 19 year old Spencer Reid when Clarissa brought a grieving Spencer along for lunch and the interactions they had before Spencer was placed on the same team as him.
"He was still in college for a couple of those years." whispered Gideon.
Hotch nodded in agreement.
"When he told me that he was interested in this profession, I was worried about how he would cope with this job after losing so much at a young age." whispered Hotch before smiling a bit, "But I'm glad that he and my sister met when they did." whispered Hotch.
"Spencer told me that they are going to try for another baby soon since they decided to wait until after his 25th birthday." whispered Gideon.
Hotch smiled at the thought of getting another niece or a nephew to spoil since Clarissa told him that she opted for an IUD after Diana was born since they wanted wait a couple of years to have their second child due to being 22 years old when Diana was born.
"I just hope that this job never causes them martial problems." whispered Hotch as he thought about how his sister and Spencer's fast approaching anniversary as he watched his youngest agent sleep.
Three hours later Spencer was carrying a sleeping Diana into the master bedroom just as Clarissa exited the master bathroom.
"Why do you have Diana?" asked a whispering Clarissa.
"With the case I just worked, I need her close." said Spencer as he tucked his little girl into bed.
"She can sleep with us tonight, but I have plans for you tomorrow night." said Clarissa as she crawled under the covers on her side of the bed.
Spencer nodded as he crawled under the covers on his side of the bed, and a few seconds later he smiled when he felt Diana curl into his side.
"Good night." said Spencer.
"Good night." said Clarissa.
A few minutes later Spencer and Clarissa were fast asleep like their daughter.
The next evening Spencer smiled at the sight of Diana holding a toddling Jack's hand as they walked together in their backyard.
"Imagine Diana doing that with her little brother and sister when we finally have another child." said Clarissa.
"She would make a good big sister." said Spencer.
Clarissa smiled at her husband.
"I scheduled a doctor appointment to get that IUD removed." smiled Clarissa.
"So your ready for us to become parents again?" asked Spencer.
Clarissa nodded.
"It might take you a couple of weeks to get me pregnant, but I can't wait to watch Diana be a big sister." said Clarissa.
"Me too." said Spencer before he looked at his watch, "Hotch and Haley should be back in an hour." said Spencer.
"Do you think their talk is successful?" asked Clarissa as she thought about how upset her sister in law was when her brother didn't show up at Children's National.
"Hopefully." said Spencer.
Two days later a photographer was taking a picture of Spencer, Clarissa, and little Diana who were all dressed up for their family portrait.