A/N: Hello again, everyone!
A shout-out to AHowell1993, Lane Smith, and renflower0926 for either reviewing Chapter 64, favoring, and/or following the story. The occasional scenes from episodes of Criminal Minds in this story belong to CBS and Criminal Minds writers. No copyright infringement is intended.
I've decided to skip Hanley Waters; wasn't a big fan of the episode, but I've also decided to incorporate bits and pieces of the episode into the chapter.
My apologies if I had made any mistakes, but please do enjoy the chapter!
Also, I would like to credit AHowell1993 for helping me with this chapter.
Reid was in Hotch's office, about to discuss his feelings regarding Prentiss' death. "The last time I was on a couch like this was when my father left. They all thought I needed to talk, but developmentally I wasn't guided by conscience. I could only reveal what my mother and teachers told me was acceptable."
"You told them exactly when you knew they wanted to hear." Hotch guessed. "You don't have to do that here."
Reid sighs as his voice began to crack, "It's just unfair that she's gone. It's like if we can't keep each other safe, then why are we even doing any of this? It's... Sometimes I think maybe... Maybe Gideon was right, you know, maybe... Maybe it's just not worth it."
Reid was in Séraphine's nursery, reading to her after finishing the Shelley Chamberlain case in Florida, "…And Goodnight to the old lady whispering "hush"" Reid pets Séraphine's head as he whispers 'hush'. Turning the page, "Goodnight stars. Goodnight air." Turning to the last page, "Good night noises everywhere."
Reid closes the book and looked down at Séraphine, who yawned; Reid had an instant smile on his face. Setting the book aside and whispers to her as he walked to her crib and breathed to her,
"I love you so much, Fifi. You know that?"
Just as Reid put Séraphine on her back in the crib, she let out another yawn, a couple of coos, and her eyes blinked. Sighing, Reid wiggles his index finger towards her face, and Séraphine grabs it. Reid smiles again.
Coating his finger out from Séraphine's hand, Reid gives her a forehead kiss before watching her asleep. Walking backward as he walked out of her nursery, "Love you."
Red blows a kiss at Séraphine before closing the door. Soon, he sees Élise, already in her blush pink nightie and robe, smiled at the sight of Reid. Pushing her body towards him; wrapping her arms around his body, Élise gives him a lips kiss. Élise creakily opens the door and melted when she sees Séraphine sleeping. Closing the door again,
Élise exhaled, "She's growing up so quickly."
"Well, she is going from newborn to infant, not to mention gaining 1.5-to-two pounds a month, her head circumference gaining two centimeters a month and should be growing ten inches between her birth and until her first birthday."
"I said it before and I'll say it again, she'll definitely be inheriting her brain from you." Élise laughs. "But seriously, she's growing up so fast."
"Soon her gurgling and cooing will lead to her saying 'dada.'"
Élise remarked, "Or 'mama.' I brought her into this world."
Reid chuckled, "Of course. But she'll say 'dada' first because she's a daddy's girl."
Élise gives him a sarcastic smile before they held their hands and walk into their bedroom. Élise noticed a slightly down look on Reid's face, "Are you okay?"
"The hostage situation Hotch was in," Reid confesses as they laid in bed. "His exact words to the mother, "I know you blame yourself, and you shouldn't. And, Shelly, all the hurt that you might inflict on people is not gonna bring him back. They need to know what they did. Believe me, everyone who tried to save him that day isn't gonna forget. It's the day they failed. They'll ask themselves what they could have done. Could they have gotten here sooner? They'll heal, but it's gonna take time. They'll move on, but they won't forget."" Sighing, "Her son even died on his sixth birthday."
Élise sympathetically shakes her head, "Your child enters and leaves this Earth on the same day. I'll admit, even I began pregnant with Séraphine, that was my worst fear."
"It's every parents' worst fear; outliving their children," Reid replied.
Élise agreed, "Yeah."
Reid changes the conversation, "But do you think what Hotch said is true? About healing and moving on?"
"Yeah, but at the same time, it'll still be there," Élise responds.
Reid pouts his lips, "Still… What we could have done, had she told us about Ian Doyle and her past with him?"
"You can't torture yourself with 'what-ifs.'" Élise retorts.
"Yeah."
A few days later…
"So, how do I look?" Walking out of the bedroom, Élise asked Reid, who was in the living room with Séraphine in his arms. Élise shows off what she was wearing: a striped long-sleeve turtleneck, stretchy pants, and comfortable Converse sneakers.
Reid smirks, "You look nice."
"I wanted to feel comfortable as well," Élise tugs against her turtleneck, looking down at her belly, "I still look two-month pregnancy." Élise sighs. "They say your body's never the same after giving birth. And it looks like they're right."
"It takes months to recover from giving birth," Reid mentions. "Even during pregnancy, your body goes through changes."
"Believe me, I know." Élise chuckled before looking down at her body again and had Reid give her Séraphine. "I know it's been six weeks but still…"
KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK!
"That must be the sitter," Reid smirked, knowing who it was. Élise gets the door, and it was,
"Hey, Bea."
Élise's sister-in-law, dressed in a peacoat over a striped long-sleeve T-shirt, dark jeans, and boots, toothy smiled at the sight of her own sister-in-law.
"É!" Bea opened her arms out before giving Élise a hug. "Great to see you again." Bea has her eyes set on Séraphine, who rubbed her eyes with her little balled fist and yawned. "And little Séraphine! May-may. Aren't you so grown?"
Reid immediately grabbed Brenda's bags and set them aside. "Great seeing you again, Brenda."
"Same as you, doc." Brenda graciously said as she was playing with Séraphine's cheeks. "And thanks again for letting me stay here during the Teacher's Conference."
"Better here than a hotel, right?" Élise joked.
Brenda agreed, "Yeah." She soon asked, "May I hold my niece, please?"
"Okay," Élise said, "Be careful with her head, now."
Brenda noticed Élise and Reid's attire as she began to gently bounce Séraphine, "Where are you two headed?"
"Going to the movies with some colleagues." Reid fixed his tie. "We've had a few tough days."
Brenda scoffed in agreement, "I know what you're feeling."
"Oh!" Reid looked at his silver watch, "We better get going." Reid grabs his gray-and-black small-checkered scarf from the couch.
"Yup." Élise is given her aubergine coat by Reid. Putting on her coat, Élise tells Brenda, "Now, emergency numbers are on the fridge."
Reid replied, "And the bottles are in the fridge as well, in case she's hungry or in you're hungry, you can help yourself…"
"Don't worry." Brenda eases Élise and Reid's anxiousness. "Just go out and have some fun, you kooky kids."
"Okay." Élise and Reid gave Séraphine a gentle kiss on her forehead. Élise felt a lump in her throat and Reid bit down in his inner cheek to try not to cry.
"Be good, okay?" Reid tells Séraphine, stroking her head.
Before leaving, Reid and Élise took one last look at Séraphine, who was babbling incoherently. They blew a kiss at her before leaving. Just as Reid closed the door,
"Maybe we shouldn't." Élise quickly changed her mind.
"You're anxious," Reid comforts Élise and pats down on the palm of her hand. "You're about to be away from our little girl for the first time."
"I know, but…" Élise was still unsure.
Reid reassures her, "We're only going to be away from a few hours. I'll be right by your side."
Élise deeply exhaled, "Okay."
"Pretty papa and mama!" Morgan—with Garcia by his side—happily greets Élise and Reid as they met up by a multiplex ticket booth. "Glad you two could make it."
Élise began fiddling with her fingernails, "Yeah, we're happy to be here."
"I guess someone's having separation anxiety." Garcia presumes.
Élise hisses and rubs her gloved hands together, "My sister-in-law, Brenda, is babysitting Séraphine since she has to go to this D.C. teaching conference."
"At least she's giving you some time off," Garcia replied.
Élise agreed, "Yeah, I guess."
"Plus, it'll be good for you to confront your separation anxiety from Séraphine." Reid reminded her.
Élise nods her head, "True."
"Hey!"
Seaver approached the team with a familiar male companion.
"Ashley!" Élise greets her before noticing, "You invited Anderson." Waving at him, "Hey, Anderson."
Anderson meekly greets the team, "Hey, you guys."
Garcia claps her hands in glee, "Oh! Come on, people!"
About an hour, forty-seven minutes, and twelve seconds later, the movie end.
"Unnecessary." Garcia shuddered. "There's too much blood and gore and eew."
"Garcia, it's a slasher film," Reid remarked, looking to Garcia, as he held Élise's hand. "How do you do a slasher film without violence?"
Garcia retorted, "You imply it."
"Baby, the movie is called Slice 6." Morgan reminded her of the movie title before asking her, "What were you expecting?"
"A refreshing beverage with a twist of comedy," Garcia said. "I'm gonna have nightmares for a week."
"With everything that we do and see on a daily basis, that got to you?" Ashley asked, bumping Anderson's elbow.
"You have seen me when I was giving birth," Élise replied. "Hell, you should see the amount of discharge that was in my body after."
"Listen, newb and Mother Law, you may be all Sigourney Weaver and Angela Bassett ass-kicking tough, which is awesome, but the mystical mavens of innocence like myself jump at things that go bump in the night." Garcia justifies.
"Why are you worried?" Reid playfully asked; Élise smiled when Garcia compared her to Angela Bassett, one of her favorite actresses. "I'm sure that Morgan will protect you. As long as he's not jumping out of his chair like a prepubescent schoolgirl." Everyone minus Morgan laughed at the memory of Morgan waking up to the sound of the scream that came from the movie screen and finding popcorn curls on him.
"The only reason I jumped is 'cause you guys woke me up." Morgan chuckles.
Garcia asked, clutching her arm tighter around Morgan, "How could you sleep during that?"
"Easy. You drag me out after a 12-hour workday... For what? You telling me that girl didn't know that the unsub was waiting for her upstairs? Come on, now." Morgan expresses his thought about the cliches of the movie.
"Villain." Reid corrects Morgan,
"What?"
"In movies, unsubs are called villains," Reid explains.
"Or bad guys," Anderson adds. "They're also called bad guys."
Morgan mocked, "My bad."
Reid asked, "You want to know why horror movies are so successful?"
Morgan dryly responds since Morgan already figured Reid would have the answer, "Why is that genius?"
Reid explains, "They prey on our instinctual need to survive. In tribal days, a woman's scream would signal danger and the men would return from hunting to protect their pack. That's why it's always the women and not the men who fall victim to the bogeyman."
Seaver replied. "Count on you, Reid, to break a movie down to science."
"I don't see anything wrong with that." Élise defends Reid. "Even I often analyze movies. It's almost like finding Easter eggs inside video games."
"My favorite thing about horror movies is the suspense factor," Seaver said.
"Same here." Élise raises her free hand.
Reid delightfully smirks, "Ah, the ticking clock."
Seaver lowly replies, "The helpless victim walks through the dark...Shadows reaching out to get her."
Reid said in a spooky tone, "A sudden noise draws her attention. Is someone there, or is it just in her head?"
"Oooohhh!" Élise made ghostly sounds. "I'm gonna get you!"
Garcia comments, smirking, "Still, it's totally unrealistic. No one should be walking through a dark alley by themselves at night."
"Ahem." Morgan clears his throat and points to himself. "Hello."
"Ah. No one should be walking through a dark alley without a Derek Morgan by their side." Garcia cuddles closer to Morgan.
"Well, I say no one should be walking through a dark alley without a Dr. Spencer Reid by their side." Élise notes, "He's a papa wolf who wouldn't let anyone hurt his family."
"Aww," Reid blushes and gives Élise a quick lip kiss before seriously replies, "But the best part of a horror movie... You never know when the end is gonna come."
"And an ending is always a new beginning." Élise loudly whispers.
"Why, morning, Brenda." Reid greeted Brenda while being completely surprised that a plate of scrambled eggs and two strips of bacon, and a cup of freshly brewed coffee on the dining room table.
Brenda replies, "Morning to you, too."
"And we say good morning to you both as well." Élise walks into the dining room with Séraphine in her arms.
"Aww," Brenda smiled when she saw Séraphine just as she gave Élise her breakfast plate and a small bowl of mixed berries. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm good," Élise said before she helped herself to a handful of berries. Élise observed Brenda's attire: blue sweater, black cardigan, khaki trousers, black ankle boots; her makeup was natural and had her curly hair in a ponytail. "Getting your conference confidence on."
"Mm-hmm." Brenda nods her head. "Even though I'm a teacher-turned-educational and academic consultant, I still feel like I'm making a difference in children's lives."
"It's still a noble profession," Élise said. "Personally, I have a bad history with teachers, but no doubt they can make a difference in children's lives." She dabs her mouth.
"Mm-hmm," Reid sips his coffee before looking at his watch, "I better get going."
Brenda insisted, "I'll clean up your plate."
"Thanks, Brenda." Reid grabs his messenger bag before giving Élise and Séraphine kisses. "Love you."
"We love you, too." Élise smiled and waved Séraphine's hand for her. "Say 'bye-bye, daddy.' Bye, daddy."
Reid laughs as he left the house.
Briefing in the roundtable room and again on the plane ride to San Diego to investigate murdered college female students, Reid, and Morgan—under Hotch's orders—headed to Amber Lasko's apartment while Seaver interviews the roommate and Rossi and Hotch himself to the medical examiner's.
Walking to a lone parking lot, Morgan noticed, "Well, there's no secure parking."
Reid spun around once and had his hands in his pocket; he had his glasses on as did Morgan, "I rode a bike when I was in college."
"That's 'cause you weren't old enough to drive, Einstein," Morgan remarked.
"I could drive. It's just the government wouldn't issue me a license until I was 14." Reid explained before they came across a silver metal staircase. "A lot of places for the unsub to hide out here," Reid noted before taking off his glasses.
"Yeah, he could have easily grabbed her when she passed through here." Morgan and Reid observed the garage.
"Yet she made it all the way to her apartment," Reid adds.
Morgan replied. "Where she should feel safe, but then he took that from her."
"Remind me to have Séraphine take self-defense classes when she's older."
"You already know I'm a black belt in Judo. And I still teach hand-to-hand combat at Quantico." Morgan offers. "A few lessons with me, she'll be able to defend herself with no problem.
"Or kick your backside." Reid joked.
Morgan smirks as he and Reid made their way to the latest victim's apartment; soon, they see a middle-aged man with short gray hair, and business casual dressed. Morgan took off his glasses and held his hand out, introducing themselves.
"I'm Agent Derek Morgan. This is Dr. Spencer Reid."
"Detective Bryce Harding." He presented himself before looking at his notes, "Amber's roommate Michelle told us she was out of town visiting family when the attack occurred."
"The unsub must have known that." Morgan guessed. "That's why he made his move last night."
"He jimmied the lock on the window." Harding points to them the window before Reid noticed something in the bedroom. Walking towards it,
"I guess he needed the privacy to complete the torture." Harding and Morgan followed Reid.
"Well, most sadists like to kill on their own turf. This guy didn't risk taking her to a secondary location." Morgan said as they entered the bedroom.
"Maybe something happened which makes the location of the kill significant. Look." Reid walks into the bedroom and points to the victim's blood splatters.
"That's something new. He's smearing blood on the walls, exhibiting more control and rage over his victims, taking pleasure in the kill."
"What's with the specific physical type?" Harding asked.
Morgan answers, "It looks like he's taking his anger out on women who represent someone he knows."
"Yeah, like Edmund Kemper. He most likely can't confront his true target yet, so he's going after women who look like her until he can build up the confidence to complete his endgame." Reid concluded.
After spending the rest of the day discussing more the victims and the unsub, Hotch decided that they would start fresh in the morning and get some sleep. Reid was in his hotel room and decided to give Élise a call,
"Hi, honey." Élise warmly greets Reid, who had an instant smile on his face.
"Hello." Red greets Élise back. "How was your day?"
Élise exhaled, "It was good. Fifi's asleep and Bea and I spent the rest of the day watching 90s movies."
"I'm glad you had a good day," Reid said.
Élise smirks before yawning, "Yeah." She licks her lips. "I'm going to get some sleep."
"Go get your beauty sleep," Reid chuckled. "I'll see you there?"
"Mm-hmm." Élise coquettishly smiles. "Love you."
"I love you and Fifi, too."
The next morning, Reid and Morgan headed to the latest victim—Laurie Burgin—who was killed while inside her employer's home where they realized the unsub fed the baby Laurie was babysitting.
And how Laurie got a picture of the unsub before she died.
After the team delivered the profile, Reid and Seaver talked to a San Diego college security staff member; "Make sure your security team warns all young women to be hypervigilant, especially in their online acquaintances, but also with service workers, maintenance staff, and deliverymen."
Seaver reminded, "We know time is not on our side, but also make sure you tell them to double-check IDs, call dispatch before they let anybody inside their homes, dorms."
The security guard took a stack of files from the two agents,
"Thank you." He soon walked away as did Reid and Seaver. Seaver began looking around, mainly at the young college students.
"I remember stressing about completing my exams, tests, finals," Seaver admits. "Now, these girls have to worry about some serial killer."
"Reminds me of a few cases over the years I've been with the BAU," Reid replied, placing his hands in his pant pockets.
Seaver turned her head, "You want to talk about it?"
Reid shakes his head as he began to have distant memories, "I rather not."
The team got the news that another babysitter was killed…
Only there were two survivors.
The mother and her infant son.
While Morgan went to talk to the mother while her son was being tended, Reid and Rossi went inside the house with Detective Harding, who said,
"Jake suffered multiple stab wounds to the chest and abdomen. The sitter Lily got the brunt of it."
Rossi lifted the yellow plastic sheet that was covering Lily. "This is the second time he struck inside someone else's home. He's telling us something."
"He's narrowing in on his ideal victimology." Reid said as he lifted the plastic sheet, "Babysitting somehow fits into the scenario he's trying to recreate." Reid took a closer look at what happened to Lily and deduced, "You know what? He changed his M.O. as well. He violated Lily with a knife."
"He hasn't shown aggressive sexual behavior up till now." Rossi noted before asking, "What's different?"
"This is more personal." Reid thinks. "She could be the one he's been after all along."
"I don't know," Rossi questioned. "This guy's meticulous. He plans everything out."
"Then why didn't he know the Ellisons were returning?" Harding asked.
"I think he did," Reid replied. "I mean, the unsub was watching the house. He knew that they came home, but he just didn't care. He adapted."
"He went after the biggest threat first," Rossi mentions. "He eliminated Jake in order to gain control over Lily and Amy."
"There are two initial points of attack, one in the hallway outside the nursery and the other one here." Harding included.
Rossi said as he lifted the sheet. "Yet, both bodies ended up together."
"Look at the way they're posed, directly looking at each other," Reid comments as he lifted the sheets again.
"He wanted them to watch each other die," Rossi observed.
"I think it's more than that. This change in behavior could be the piece that we're missing." Reid concluded; Rossi silently nodded, agreeing.
The case ends with the unsub—Greg Phinney—being shot down by Rossi after he built up the confidence to go after his stepmother, Kate, his true object of his affection.
As the team was packing up, Harding approached the team and said,
"I would like to thank you again agents for your help."
Hotch nods, "We're glad we were able to help."
Harding asked Seaver, "Is it true what you said, Agent Seaver? About Greg Phinney always being troubled?"
"Yes. There wasn't anything anyone could do, no matter how hard we try."
Harding shakes his head, "I can't tell you how many times I've told people that. Still, thank you, all again." Harding sniffed the air before seeing two bags and a box of pizza. "Do I smell pizza from Cali-Pizza and burritos from Rico's Shop?"
"They're for my wife who's at home taking care of our six-week-old daughter, Séraphine." Reid shows Harding a recent picture of his girls.
"Oh," Harding smiles. "Cute little girl. She had your eyes. And you have a good-looking wife."
Reid smiled with pride, "I'm a lucky man."
Reid sighed as he laid in bed, resting his head against the plush pillow. "I'm so glad to be home."
"Yeah."
Reid chuckled, "You know, Morgan offered to teach Séraphine self-defense."
Élise pushes out her lips, "I think that could be a good idea. And plus, with your eidetic memory she'll definitely inherit from you, she'll be able to kick Morgan's backside."
Reid laughs, "That's exactly what I said."
Élise cuddles closer to Reid, embracing him, "Well, it's been six weeks since we welcomed Séraphine."
Reid chuckles to himself, "And…?" He had a feeling where this conversation was going." He had an instant smile when Élise whispers in his ear. As Élise pulled away, "Are you sure?"
"Mmm-hmm." Élise giggled.
Reid purses his lips, "Let's go it."
Élise meowed before they got under the covers.
A/N: Even though I've updated the latest chapter after taking a short break, I'm going to take another break. A lot has been going on; writer's block, feeling down and tired, life in general, etc. Like I stated in the previous chapter, taking a break from writing this story will get me out of my writer's block and this funk I've been feeling, but now these days, I just really don't know anymore. Apologies.
