Chapter 126
AN: Sorry that it's been a few days, I was trying to get the rest of my complete plan finished, so I knew exactly what I want to address for the rest of this story; that will not be ending when season 15 ends. Hopefully chapters will be out really fast as there are some stuff that I am very excited to get to.
A little while has passed since the Floyd case and Penelope, to the relief of those who care about her, is still doing better. It's early morning and Penelope and Emily, both of whom are sitting on either side of JJ's desk, are showing Matt, Luke, and JJ pictures of their new house. As they show the pictures it is more than clear that Penelope and Emily are extremely excited about this new chapter of their lives.
"So, this is the living room that I think we're gonna spend the most time in," Penelope says, passing around a picture.
"Let me guess, the one right by the kitchen?" Matt asks amused as he has spent enough time with Penelope and Emily to know that.
"Of course," Emily confirms as she and Penelope love spending time together as Penelope cooks, usually both of them are drinking wine as they do so.
"When do you think you guys will start to move things?" JJ asks curious.
"I don't know," Emily admits. "We've still got a lot to do, I never realized how much stuff Pen and I had until we started to pack it up," Emily explains, to the others amusement.
"Guys, I read about a guy in California who only has seventy-nine items to his name, including his underwear," Reid says, walking up to the others.
"That is not enough," Emily comments, suspecting that she and Penelope nearly have that many pairs of shoes between them.
"I am all for living with only the things you need," Matt comments.
"Amen, me too," Penelope says, to the amusement of everyone else. "What?" Penelope asks, looking around at the others as she sees the looks on their faces.
"How many fuzzy pends, unicorn statues, and mermaid paperweights does one need at her desk?" Luke asks curious.
"All of them," Penelope says, sounding completely serious, as Emily's phone goes off.
"Pen, can you get your Dad and Tara, we have a case," Emily explains, and once Penelope collects everyone the team, in the roundtable room, discuss the case of multiple missing women.
A while later the team are still working the case, which seems to be more complicated and could potentially involve more victims than they realize, and Penelope is in her office, sitting at her desk.
"Hello, friends, I have an announcement," Penelope says, to everything that is on her desk. "I don't thank you often enough. I know you're seemingly inanimate, but you witness all the icky that I deal with, and it makes it more manageable, so I want to thank you, and you, and you," Penelope says to several of her individual items.
"What is it Pen?" Emily asks, as she, with JJ right behind her, walk into Penelope's office.
"Oh, yes, I looked into the disappearance of Chrissy miller. I found something significant," Penelope explains, as Emily rests her hand on Penelope's shoulder as she and JJ listen to what Penelope has to say. "That same week that Chrissy disappeared, another team, Kylie Pritchard also went missing," Penelope explains.
"Eighteen and pregnant," JJ reads. "Like Chrissy, the police checked off the trouble runaway box," JJ realizes.
"Yeah, and this will also whet your mystery whistle. Days after Kylie and Chrissy went missing Doctor Robert Childs vanished," Penelope explains.
"So, if this is the same unsub he probably started with high-risk victims like runaways, then graduated to high profile ones," Emily theorizes.
"What if Joanna Miller was right and her sister's disappearance is connected to the abduction of the professional women from five yeas ago?" JJ asks, looking between Penelope and Emily.
"Pen, expanding your search for…" Emily starts to say.
"Missing women in Virginia and the Metro DC area. I can read your voice, and your mind Amore," Penelope says, causing Emily to smile softly as Penelope types. "In the last five years, there have been two dozen missing persons cases, mostly runaways and young females," Penelope explains.
"So we have two waves of abductions… teen runaways and accomplished women," Emily says, and as she does Emily comes to a conclusion. "Doctor Childs was an obstetrician. What if some of the other runaways were pregnant?" Emily asks.
"Joanna said Chrissy was cleaning up her act before she disappeared. What if she was pregnant, too?" JJ asks. "Penelope, can you…" JJ starts to ask.
"In the flashiest of flashes, yes, I can," Penelope confirms. "Uh, yeah. Here's a medical chart from a Downtown Free clinic. Chrissy was pregnant. Two months to be exact," Penelope explains.
"Okay, I get the unsub taking teen runaways. He probably figured fewer people would be looking for them, but why go out of his way to abduct pregnant ones?" JJ asks.
"And what happened to the babies?" Emily asks, as horrifying thoughts come to her mind.
The next morning the team are sure that pregnant teens are being taken along with professionals and after investigations they have realized that the unsub has some kind of connection to doomsday theorists.
It's early in the morning and Penelope, Emily, Rossi and Matt are all in the roundtable room discussing what know about doomsday preppers and how that can help them find their unsub. As they are on a clock, they are all standing behind Penelope, Emily having her hand on her wife's shoulder.
"The unsub has probably been stockpiling weapons, provisions and other supplies for years," Rossi explains.
"That would take a lot of research and planning," Emily realizes. "Pen, what kind of online presence do Preppers have?" Penelope asks her wife.
"They're a bunch of chatty cathy's," Penelope admits. "There's a plethora of chat rooms, podcasts, websites, all about tee-ought-walk-kee," Penelope explains, getting confused looks. "Uh, that's what they call the end of the world as we know it," Penelope explains.
"What do they talk about?" Luke asks curious.
"Everything from food storage tips to basic first aid, best place to get a gas mask, places to live that won't be effected by climate change. Website here that tells Preppers they should get corrective eye surgery," Penelope says, and as she does, she takes off her glasses and has a look.
"That makes sense," Rossi admits. "If you were to lose or break your glasses where the earth is laid bare, something tells me it would be hard to find a lens crafter," Rossi explains.
"It's like the episode in 'the twilight zone,'' Penelope says, sounding shocked, as she stares at her glasses.
"Pen," Emily says simply trying to get her wife back on task.
"Oh, I'm digressing," Penelope says as she puts her glasses back on and gets back to work.
"Do a search of the Metro DC area for a man who falls in both the survivalist and preppers camp," Emily explains to her wife.
"Okay, Preppers love their firewalls, but it's not match for MOI, one hundred and ten names," Penelope explains.
"And what about the ones that live in Virginia?" Luke asks.
"Seventy, next player,"
"Do any of them own a black van?" Emily asks, and Penelope checks.
"Negative," Penelope answers.
"Well, technical people usually view risk mathematically. Penelope, filter the list for accountants, engineers, math teachers and computer techs," Matt suggests.
"I am filtering this though my digital colander. Nicely done, twenty names," Penelope says as she gets her results.
"So, for the past five years, this guy's been amassing food, waste, medical supplies, air filtration materials weapons and ammo," Penelope says and Penelope search to see if that helps.
"Oh, that's like all of them," Penelope reveals, and as she does she realizes something.
"What is it?" Emily asks.
"Whoa, nelly. I found a civil engineer, Lawrence Coleman. He's brought all of those things, but also chloroform is on his shopping list," Penelope explains.
"Does he show any interest in the doomsday clock?" Rossi asks his daughter.
"Obsessed is more like it," Penelope admits.
"Preppers typically plan to shelter in place, bug in, which means they want to ride out any bad situation at home," Luke explains.
"What if they can't?" Rossi asks.
"Then they bug out and they go to secret locations in remote areas," Luke explains.
"If Coleman is keeping the women and kids in one place, it would have to be a really big space," Matt realizes.
"I got a home and work address for him, and also he has rented multiple storage locations in the last five years," Penelope explains.
"You know what to do," Emily says to her wife, as she kisses Penelope's cheek.
"Yeah, send it to your phones," Penelope says, as the others leave the roundtable room.
A while later the case is over, the women and their children have been saved and Penelope is walking into the bullpen where the rest of the team are.
"Oh, my gosh, I was so worried about you guys being in that bunker," Penelope says, as they walk straight to her wife, who is standing by JJ's desk. "It made me very claustrophobic, I am very glad our new home has so much space," Penelope says to her wife.
"Me too," Emily confirms, with a slight smile.
"I gotta say, Coleman's bunker was pretty impressive," Matt comments.
"Yeah, but not where I want to spend my last day on earth," Emily admits, as everyone starts to walk towards the elevators.
"Yeah? Where would you?" Matt asks curious.
"Never thought about it," Emily admits, though she knows it would involve Penelope.
"I don't want to think about it," Penelope says, as she puts her arm around her wife.
"I would definitely be on a beach," Tara says.
"I think I'd prefer the mountains," Luke admits.
"I'd be with my family," Matt says.
"Same," JJ confirms. "Spence?" JJ asks curious.
"Paris with my mom, she liked Paris," Reid admits.
"You know, something tells me Dave has this all planed out," Tara comments, as the group starts to walk into the elevator.
"Don't you know it," Rossi confirms. "When the end comes you'll find me at home enjoying a meal of Cabonara alla Rossi with my daughters," Rossi says, including Emily in that as well as Penelope and Joy. "And if there is still time I will adjourn to my patio to take place in a double jack and vintage Don Carlos," Rossi explains.
"That sounds great," Luke says amazed.
"You mind If we join you?" Emily asks curious.
"Wouldn't have it any other way," Rossi comments, smiling at his daughter in law.
"How about tonight we just do dinner," Penelope suggests, as she really doesn't want to think about the end of times.
"Sounds good to me," Rossi says, and the team head off to dinner together, during which they offer to help Penelope and Emily move.
A few weeks have passed since the doomsday preppers case and in that time Penelope and Emily have started to move some things from their apartment to their new place. Due to this both their apartment and house have boxes around, and it is all too clear that they still have so much to do.
As neither their house, nor their apartment, is suitable for visitors Penelope and Emily are waiting in the roundtable room of the BAU for the rest of the team, as Rossi is giving a TV interview which everyone wants to watch.
On the TV the interview is just stating and so Emily takes some of the popcorn her wife is holding.
"Here with us today is supervisory special agent David Rossi, renowned author and co-founder of the FBI's famed Behavioral Analysis Unit," the presenter says. "His latest book, 'Understanding Evil,' is an in-debt portrait of serial killer Tommy Yates. Thanks for joining us, Agent Rossi," The presenter explains.
"My pleasure, Brian," Rossi responds.
"Of the hundreds of murders that you've encountered, why did you choose to write about Yates?" Brain asks curious.
"With him it was personal," Rossi comments.
"Yeah, no kidding," Penelope mutters.
"Well, every year on your birthday, you would visit Yates in prison, and he'd give you the location of a body of one of his victims. Why is that?" The presenter asks.
"Tommy Yates was in a eight by six foot cell. Every second of his life was dictated," Rossi explains.
"So it was a game to him," the presenter realizes.
"It was, and I played along in order to provide closure to those families," Rossi explains.
"It can't be easy to find common ground with a sadistic murder. How did you do that?" the presenter asks, and as he does JJ, followed by Matt and Luke hurry into the roundtable room.
"Oh good, we didn't miss it," JJ says relieved.
"Nope, just stated," Penelope explains.
"You have to show respect to…" Rossi starts to explain.
"Were up to our eyeballs in cases. The guy never takes a vacation. I want to know when he'd find time to write another book," Luke comments.
"Someone must have put his mandatory six weeks off to good use," JJ realizes.
"Anyone heard from Tara?" Matt asks curious.
"She's finishing up with Floyd Ferell she'll be back in DC soon," Emily explains.
"I'm DVRing this for her and Reid. They didn't want to miss it either," Penelope explains.
"Oh, I hope his first night teaching goes well. He was a little nervous about it," JJ explains.
"This book feels like it's part memoir, more so than your others. Is that only because of Yates?" the presenter asks.
"Not necessary, some of it was necessity," Rossi explains.
"How so?" The presenter asks, as both Penelope and Emily exchange looks as they are curious about that particular answer.
"Well, I've spent my entire career exploring other people's minds, but very little time exploring my own," Rossi admits.
"And what did you find?" The presenter asks.
"That obsession is not necessarily a path travelled only by serial killers," Rossi explains.
"How come?" The presenter asks.
"Well, profiles and serial killers overlap in more ways than I would've imagined," Rossi admits. "We're both mission- oriented and driven by need-based desires, and the key difference is that while they take lives, we do our best to preserve them," Rossi explains.
"Sorry to interrupt, but we have breaking news. Earlier tonight was a third in what Miami police are calling a string of robbery-murders. It started last week near Coral Gables University. But I should warn you, what you're about to see could be considered graphic," The presenter says, and a video is played, a video which the entire team watch carefully.
"Agent Rossi, would you care to comment?" the presenter asks.
"I would like to talk to Miami police before doing so," Rossi says.
"I understand, again, the book is Understanding Evil," The presenter says as Emily's phone vibrates and Penelope turns off the TV.
"She was parked when the Unsub came up and shot her. She might not have even seen it coming," Matt comments.
"Locals just sent over the details. They believe it's a series of robbery-homicides, but he only robbed the first victim," Emily explains, as Penelope starts to check her iPad for the details she has been sent.
"Robbery could be a forensic countermeasure to try and keep the cops from trying the cases together," Luke theorizes.
"A big city like Miami, how do we even know they're related?" Matt asks curious.
"Ballistics match. He used a 44-caliber," Emily explains, to everyone's surprise.
"Bold choice, that's a big gun," JJ realizes, knowing it says a lot.
"Then there's the victims… Maggie Swanson, Katherine Shelton, and now Jeannette Clauson," Penelope explains, putting the pictures on the screen. "Each shot once in the heart, they died instantly," Penelope explains.
"He's got a type, the unsub could be a scored lover," Luke suggests.
"We're going to meet Dave in Miami. Wheels up in 10," Emily says, and everyone starts to head out of the room, as they rest of the team leaves Emily leans over and kisses her wife. "I love you," Emily says, once they break apart.
"I love you too, stay safe," Penelope tells her wife before Emily leaves.
For the next day the team continues to work the case, and during that time there is more murders, including one in front of a little girl. Due to observing something JJ has come to a conclusion and so the members of the team who are working the case are in the room they are working out of in the Miami police station.
"This is our unsub, Jeffery Whitfield at age six," JJ explains as she puts an old article on the board.
"Jeffery was in the care that day. They caught the guy down the road, but… check this out. Gina was wearing the same hair clip that day," Luke explains, as he hands a file to Emily.
"The same one he's been placing in his victims' hair," Emily realizes.
"Sandra worked Jeffery's story when it broke, and she got his only on-camera interview a year later,' JJ explains.
"That explains his focus on channel 3," Rossi realizes as that has been something that the Unsub is particularly focused on.
"He probably felt exploited," Matt theorizes.
"Or the opposite," Luke realizes. "This could have been his shinning moment. The only time he's ever felt important before," Luke explains.
"In a single-event imprint, people can have polar responses. Some avoid it entirely others obsess over it," Emily explains.
"Both of his parents died last year. So to him, there's only been one other person who recalls that day," Luke realizes.
"Sandra Madsen," Rossi realizes.
"He created the story, hoping to get her attention again, just like he did twenty years ago," Emily realizes.
"In his mind, both he and Sandra benefited from that day. She got her big story and Jeffery got his moment in the sun," Luke says, and JJ pulls her phone to attempt to call Sandra.
"He must have figured they can do it all again," Rossi realizes.
"But if she stops running his footage, he could see that as a betrayal," Matt realizes.
"And Jeffery might jump off script and attack her next," Rossi realizes.
"Sandra's phone went to voicemail," JJ explains.
"He might have already gotten to her," Rossi realizes, as a horrifying thought comes to him.
"JJ, Luke, take Jeffery's apartment. Matt, get detective Wallenberg and head to Sandra's. Dave, you and I will go to the channel 3 news room," Emily instructs, and everyone hurries out.
Back at the BAU Penelope is in her office when she gets a horrifying live stream.
"Oh, non. Oh no," Penelope says, sounding horrified as she calls her wife.
"Yeah Pen?" Emily asks.
"Jeffery Whitfield is on… and he's got… a .. he's got a gun to Sandra's head, and he's posting it all on his social media," Penelope explains to her wife, knowing that her father is also listening in.
"Penelope, can you see where they are?" Rossi asks his daughter.
"Can you cut the feed?" Emily asks. "I don't think he'll kill Sandra if the world can't watch," Emily admits.
"I can try, but it's gonna take a second," Penelope admits.
"Please work quickly Babe," Emily requests.
"You know it," Penelope says, before hanging up, and she hurriedly gets to work while Rossi and Emily get to the newsroom.
"I clocked multiple entrances into the news room," Rossi tells Emily.
"Okay, you take one, I'll take the other. We'll surround him the best we can," Emily says, knowing there is the strong possibility of this ending badly.
Over the next couple of minutes Rossi and Emily move through the building until they are both in the positions where they can surround Jeffery the best they can.
"FBI! Drop your weapon. Put the gun down, now!" Emily orders.
"Drop it, Jeffery, now! Put it down," Rossi tells her, and over the next few minutes he and Emily do their best to talk Jeffery down while Penelope works hard to try and shut down the feed; which she manages to do.
"Jeffery Whitfield, you may be a wizard, but I am an oracle of the highest order," Penelope who was able to watch even though she cut the feed, says as she watches her wife and father address him.
A while later the team have flown home and while Emily told the rest of the team to go home from the plane she is walking out of the elevator on the BAU floor. Walking out of the elevator, rather than heading to her own office, Emily heads directly to Penelope's.
Walking into Penelope's office Emily isn't at all surprised to find her wife sitting on her computer, still working.
"Pen," Emily says, so she does not scare her wife.
"Em," Penelope says happily as she gets up and hurries over to her wife, hugging her. "Are you okay?" Penelope asks, wanting to make sure of that.
"I'm fine," Emily says, as they break apart. "I'm so proud of you Babe," Emily assures her as she knows she and Rossi would have had no chance of talking down Jeffery if it wasn't for Penelope.
"I'm proud of me too," Penelope admits, with a slight smile.
"I sent the rest of the team how about we do the same," Emily suggests.
"You know to all those half-packed boxes, all the packing we have to do?" Penelope asks her wife, not looking forward to that. "Thiers so much to do," Penelope says dramatically, causing Emily to grin.
"I was thinking more along the lines of eating take out, maybe watching Netflix, and dealing with the packing tomorrow," Emily suggests.
"I like the sound of that," Penelope admit, before kissing her wife, and once they break apart Penelope turns off her systems and the two of them head out of the BAU. For the rest of the night they eat take away, and watch tv-shows, ignoring all the boxes that surround the living room of their apartment.