Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds. The occasional scenes from episodes of Criminal Minds in this story belongs to the writers of Criminal Minds and CBS. No copyright infringement intended.
A/N: Hello again, everyone!
Again, sorry for the delay!
My apologies if I had made any mistakes but do enjoy the chapter!
Also, I would like to credit ahowell1993 for helping me with this chapter.
"Morning, Dr. Mason," Élise shook his hand as he entered the room.
"Ms. Bastien. Dr. Reid." Dr. Mason greeted the couple back before noticing Reid was standing with his crutches underneath his arms and his peach-colored brace on his left knee.
"I can see we really are making progress, huh, Dr. Reid?" Dr. Mason nodded his head.
"We've been doing everything you wanted him to do," Élise pats Reid's hand. "Walking with Opal, aerobic training and exercises, balancing exercises, strengthening exercises, pain relief exercises. It's doing great for me, too, since I'm been losing weight for the wedding in the springtime. So far, since we moved, I've lost almost between ten-to-fifteen pounds already."
"Don't go overboard with it, okay." Dr. Mason warned Élise. "And make sure you're eating as well."
"Yes, doc. I have been; I'm just trying to cut down and moderate on sweets and carbs and calorie intake."
Dr. Mason asked Reid, "How's your knee feeling now?"
"A little pain every now and then," Reid truthfully answers.
"I want you to have your crutches but at the same time, I want you to wear the brace while bearing the weight on your left leg,"
"Yes, sir."
"You know, Dr. Mason said I can start driving again," Reid said as he entered the house and is immediately greeted by Opal.
"I know, babe," Élise said, squashes down and caresses her down before giving her one of her toys. "You know I wanted to." Picking herself back up. "And besides, I have a little surprise for you." After walking into the kitchen and pulls out a small plate.
"You made me a small little chocolate cake?" Reid gushes as Élise sets the plate down.
"To celebrate your milestone; the progress you've been making." Élise kisses his lips.
"You're too good to me." Reid kisses her back.
Tapping his nose, "But you've been very good to me."
Reid and Élise were just walking into the BAU bullpen and arrived at his desk with JJ, Garcia, and Prentiss nearby and discussing the changes with the team.
A worried Garcia asked, "So, did anyone explain why Hotch is stepping down?"
"Hotch is stepping down?" A concerned Élise asked before again asking, "Who's the new Unit Chief?"
"Morgan," JJ said before continuing. "All Morgan said this morning is that it's happening. And it's business as usual."
Prentiss soon asked, "So we're just supposed to move forward without any discussion?"
"After Foyet, I think we'd have to be ready for anything," Reid said, rubbing his left leg.
"Ditto, babe." Élise agreed.
"How's the leg?" JJ asked.
"It's going well," Reid truthfully answered. "We've been making great progress. Plus, Élise made me a little chocolate cake to celebrate my milestone."
"Nice you two make time to celebrate even the smallest accompaniments." Garcia gushed.
Élise smiled back before looking lovingly at Reid, "I said the exact thing when we ate. Plus, we had a kick-ass weekend. Opal's doing well and we recently saw This Is It."
Morgan looked at the team, "Guys. Grab Rossi."
"I'll get Rossi." Reid raises his hand.
"And I'll have a little chat with your new Unit Chief." Élise eyes Morgan. As Reid uses his crutches to walk up to Rossi's office, "Unit Chief Derek Morgan." She smirks.
"How've you been?" Morgan asked.
"Well, thank you. And sorry about the surprise Opal did to your new shoes the other day."
"It's okay; I guess I probably deserved it for talking smack about her daddy. But thanks anyway for the extra $200 on the rent. I appreciate you."
"Hmm." Walking closely to him, facing him. "Then I'm sure you'll appreciate that you'll keep Spencer uninjured during your tenure as Unit Chief. Because of you don't…" Whispering in his ear, "I'm not called the Silent Eliminating Enforcer for a reason if you thought the lashing I gave to you guys when Spencer got shot was bad…oh-oh-oh! He gets hurt, even a bit, your ass is mine." She winked at him before leaving. "Have a good day." As Élise was leaving, she blew a few kisses at Reid, who blew some back as he got Rossi out of his office.
After gathering in the roundtable room, JJ began by pulling up a picture of two teenage girls.
"This is Megan Chertow and her friend Bina Sukarto, both 17, found 2 nights ago in a parking garage, Carotids severed. This is John O'Heron, 61. He was found dead in a wooded area 4 days ago, Blunt force trauma to the head."
"Different MO," Rossi spoke.
Prentiss added, "And completely different victimology."
Rossi soon asked, "how are the cases linked?"
"Their eyes have been removed," JJ responded.
"Oh, he's an enucleator."
"There's a name for this?" JJ asked.
Hotch replied. "It's a rare subset of criminal behavior, but there have been case studies of assaultive enucleators."
"The overwhelming majority of them suffer from diagnosed mental disorders," Prentiss said.
Reid added, "and they're usually males, lack social skills, their kills are disorganized and sloppy."
"The typical enucleator gouges the eyes out, but he doesn't normally take them with him." Morgan included.
Prentiss asked, "This guy did?"
"We need to figure out why."
"There are noticeable shifts from the first to second murder." Rossi said before continuing. "He goes from killing in seclusion to a public place."
"And he escalated from one victim to two."
"What concerns me most is there's less than 48 hours Between the murders. That's why I chose this case." Morgan said.
Hotch inserted. "and from what we know about enucleators, They're almost always multiple repeat offenders."
"Exactly. which means he's going to need to kill again soon. All right. let's meet on the plane in 30." Morgan concluded.
Reid soon sent a text to Élise.
HEADING TO OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA! LOVE YOU! ~ SR
O-K! X-O-2-U! ~ EB
This causes Reid to giggle a little bit.
As Reid and Hotch were on their way to meet Lt. Brantley,
"How's your progress?" Hotch asked.
"It's going quite well; Élise even made me a chocolate cake to celebrate."
"Really?"
"Yeah," Reid's tone turned solemn when he soon asked Hotch, "How's it been with…you know? Haley and Jack?"
Hotch took a deep breath before speaking, "I'm hanging in there."
"We'll get Foyet," Reid vowed.
Following Hotch as fast as he could as he used his crutches to trail behind him. "Hey. Lieutenant Phil Brantley. Appreciate you all coming."
"Agent Hotchner." Hotch shook his hands. "This is Dr. Reid. You'll meet the rest of the team later."
Lt. Brantley wondered, "What happened to you?"
"I got shot by an unsub a few months ago, but I am making progress."
"Let us know if you need anything." Lt. Brantley placed a file for Reid on the table; as he nodded his head to thanked him, Lt. Brantley pointed at the map.
"Excellent. Ok, here's where the first body was found, Just outside of town. And last night's murders were here. And that's about 22 miles apart."
"That's unusual," Reid said,
"What?" A puzzled Lt. Brantley asked.
"Serial killers usually have a smaller kill zone."
Reid's cell phone rings; looking at the caller ID, "It's our technical analyst. Hey, Garcia, you're on speakerphone."
"So, I looked up recently released mental health patients who have a history of eye-gouging, Eye assault, and other gross things you can do to eyes and sockets. And there's no bingo for Okie city residents."
"Any other recent attacks involving assaults on eyes?" Hotch asked.
"There's one 9 months ago. He's not your guy 'cause he's in jail." Garcia said.
Reid said, "We'll call you later."
"10-4, breaker breaker. Bye." After Garcia hangs up.
"You think he's fresh out of an asylum?" Lt. Brantley asked.
Hotch figures, "Either that or he's been held somewhere and he's now free."
Lt. Brantley said, "We've seen eye assaults before, you know, bar brawls, rage, domestic abuse cases. But nothing like this. What the hell's he doing with the eyes"
"He could be collecting them as a trophy of some sort." Hotch thought.
Reid added, "they wouldn't keep long as trophies. Eyes are 80% vitreous humor, which is essentially water. After a few hours, they begin to get cloudy and wilt."
"Any other theories?" Lt. Brantley asked.
"There have been cases where after enucleation, Mental patients have consumed the eyeballs." A serious Reid said.
Lt. Brantley asked in a grim tone. "Are you serious?"
Reid nods his head.
The next morning Reid was sitting when JJ walked over and asked, "A taxidermist?"
"Morgan might be onto something," Rossi said. "The unsub's collecting sets of eyes that need to be flawless."
"Because he's preserving them as a trophy of some kind," Reid replied.
"We said he was a hunter," Rossi said before asking. "What do hunters collect for trophies?"
'What if we're wrong about him being a doctor?" Reid asked before wondering. "It makes sense. A taxidermist has all the skills and supplies Needed to preserve eyes and other body parts."
"Do they know how to surgically remove eyes like this?" JJ asked, looking at the crime scene photographs.
"Yeah, they have anatomy knowledge. They have to cut through muscle, tissue, and nerves In order to remove hide. It's the exact same thing for eyeballs."
As JJ answered her cell phone, "Garcia, you're on speaker."
Garcia began, "Comrades, I cross-referenced this John O'Heron with Okie City animal stuffers. Turns out he wrote a $250 check as some sort of deposit For Lloyd's wild game shop 6 weeks ago. Now, this place is scant miles from the farm road Where our first victim was dumped."
"Does Lloyd have a record?" Reid asked.
Garcia said, "Uh...Lloyd Bulford Has one recent record from the city, and it is... A death certificate. He died 4 weeks ago."
JJ asked. "Of what?"
"Emphysema," Garcia answered.
Rossi asked, "Any employees with criminal records?"
"He's got no employment records at all. He has a 28-year-old son named earl who lives with him Who has a petty crime record and 3 counts of animal cruelty." Garcia said.
"Garcia, get everything on the son. "Rossi ordered as he got Morgan on the phone.
"Okey-Dokey."
"Morgan, we may have someone."
"So, babe," Élise plated a dinner plate of veggie stir fry with white meat skinless chicken in front of Reid. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm feeling alright," Reid answers before look over at Opal, who was already sleeping in her pen. "Like an angel."
"I know, babe." Élise gushed. "I can't believe we're getting married."
"I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you." Reid placed his hand over Élise's.
"We need to talk more about the wedding." Élise reminded him before placing an arugula leaf in her mouth.
"Yeah. Have you been in touch with your parents about having the wedding in Las Vegas?"
"Yeah and I'm a bit worried. The thing is my father's not into traveling in a plane but by car; he hasn't done that in a long time. And I mean a long time. Well…maybe not since he and my mother left the Caribbean to come to New Jersey."
"But he would do anything for his little girl," Reid said.
Élise smiled. "That's true. I'm also a bit afraid that my mother and brother will get judgmental; and like I told you, I don't really have a great relationship with my mother."
"Why is that?"
"Growing up, I felt like I couldn't talk to her about anything, not even boys. And sometimes…she would make me feel dumb or stupid. She would yell at me for making even minor mistakes and…" Shrugging her shoulders. "I guess I…distanced myself from her, you know?"
"Well, look where you are now." Reid pats her hand. "You're a federal prosecutor nicknamed the Silent Eliminating Enforcer."
"I know…but it still hurts." Élise softly said.
"I get it." Reid sympathetically said. "As you said, we don't all have great relationships with our parents, but in the end, it's up to you what you want to do with it."
"I know. You're so lucky to have a mother who you know won't judge you or make you feel anything less or even doubt you in the slightest."
"And you're so lucky to have a dad who hasn't abandoned you," Reid replied.
"I love you."
"I love you times pi."
Élise giggled.
Until next time, everyone!