S3 EXTRA

PT1

The case had seemed fairly simple. I mean, no case in the BAU is simple, but it seemed straightforward. A serial arsonist was playing with fire in the panhandle of Idaho. The dry air in that area made for a problematic arsonist, as it was so dry that once one thing was lit, the entire county would burn.

It had become a BAU case when the two more recent cases of arson resulted in people becoming trapped inside the buildings and five people's deaths had resulted.

The team had flown to Idaho and began investigating the scenes. The fires were all over the place, but the signature was what linked them together. At every scene, there was a weird symbol spray painted on the wall. The black paint was always fresh when they arrived on the scene, seemingly painted right before the fire started. It almost looked like some kind of weird cross that was diagonal, but no one could pinpoint what the importance could be.

The majority of the BAU team worked on a profile, figuring out who this unsub could be.

Meanwhile, Reid took it upon himself to start a geographical profile. He began mapping all of the fires and any other significant places. There didn't seem to be much of a pattern, only that the unsub was clearly familiar with the small town. He targeted abandoned buildings, shops, houses, and even a restaurant.

Reid wracked his brain, trying to understand the unsub. He stayed up both nights they were there, trying to find the unsub's logic.

By the third morning Reid was almost manic. He was on a caffeine high, scribbling on the board. He was frustrated and annoyed and tired. He snapped at Hotch when he told him to take a break. This led to his coffee and markers being confiscated, and Hotch kicking him out of the precinct to clear his head.

He knew it was dumb of him to stay awake this long, he probably wasn't going to get anywhere new. But he was so distressed that he couldn't sleep anyway, so he had tried to make the most of it.

Reid sulked outside, irritated that he'd been ordered to take a break like a child (even if he'd deserved it). A hand touched his shoulder, causing him to startle.

"ah!" Reid yelped in surprise.

"Hey, woah there buddy, it's just me." Prentiss said, concern in her eyes. "Let's go for a walk alright, you need a break."

Reid rubbed his temples, attempting to stop the oncoming headache. He nodded silently, following Prentiss as she began leading them away from the precinct.

They walked in silence for a while, taking in the views of the little town. It was pretty cute. The buildings were old and rickety, but in a charming way, and they were sitting in the middle of a mountain range, so the scenery was beautiful.

Reid smiled a little, appreciating the nature. Prentiss smiled when he did, leading them towards a park. The two eventually settled on a bench, enjoying the peacefulness.

Prentiss suddenly interrupted the silence, "You know you can't fall back into your old habits Spencer. Running yourself into the ground never worked in the past, why do you think it'll help now?"

Reid sighed, knowing she was right. "I just thought that maybe… I could figure something out before another person dies. I mean there HAS to be a pattern somewhere, I just can't see it! And if someone else dies before I figure it out, well…" he trailed off, not needing to finish the sentence.

They both knew what he was implying. He would feel responsible, like he could've stopped the unsub, but he failed.

"You can't do that to yourself, Spencer."

"I know... I can't help it." He muttered; eyes downcast.

They lapsed back into silence, once again enjoying the peace. Reid's mind began to wander involuntarily back towards the case. The map that had been on the board was killing him, there was something there he was missing. It was right under his nose. He just couldn't figure out what it was.

None of the properties seemed to have any relation to one another, and none of the people who owned the properties did either. It was also strange that the unsub would go back and forth between abandoned buildings and houses with people inside. It was almost like it was more about what he was burning down, and less about who got killed in the process.

Suddenly, it clicked. That was it! He didn't mean to kill those people; the unsub was trying to say something.

Reid's mind began to race. "Emily!" he yelled, his mind running in overdrive, "do you have a pen and paper?"

She nodded, confused, and pulled out a notebook and pen.

Reid quickly began writing out the street names that the fires had been set on. All the buildings had been on crossroads in the southwestern corner, so he wrote all of them down.

He began attempting to solve it like an anagram. His brain quickly processed all the possible combinations but couldn't find anything. Reid then began separating further, pairing north-south roads off and then the east-west roads.

Suddenly, it all became clear. The profile had suggested that the unsub was having some sort of psychotic break, was very disorganized, and was possibly an arsonist for religious reasons, and this linked that together.

"Oh my god." He said, solving the partially written word.

"What? Spencer what is it?" Emily asked, trying to read his sloppy writing.

"The s-symbol on the wall, it's not a cross, it-it's a hammer! A blacksmith's hammer! And look at this-" he said, tilting the notebook towards her, "if you use all of the north-south roads that were at the intersections of the houses that burned it starts to spell out this: H-E-P-H-A-E-S-T."

Emily nodded, still confused. "Okay yeah but what does that mean?"

"Its Hephaestus! He's spelling out Hephaestus! He's the Greek God of fire! He worked as a blacksmith for the god's building armor that the other gods wore when they went to battle! I bet our unsub is a blacksmith of some sort, there are a ton of old timey shops like that here, I bet he thinks that if he spells out Hephaestus' name in fire that he will grant him some sort of power or gift! His psychotic break is making him light these fires, the people just got in the way"

"Okay uh is there any way we can figure out where he'll strike next?" Prentiss asked, beginning to call up Hotch to alert him of what they'd figured out.

Reid thought back to the map, closing his eyes and using his Eidetic memory to his advantage. He began scanning the street names, looking for one that began with the letter 'U'. Thankfully it wasn't a very popularly used letter. There were only five streets in town that began with 'U', and only two of them were north-south streets.

'I need to narrow it down more' he thought. At any minute the next fire could start. However, there wasn't a ton of time. Mentally zooming in, he pinpointed what those buildings were. One of the buildings was a house, that one would be problematic. The other was… oh wait! There was no building there! It was an empty lot!

His eyes snapped open, knowing that his location had to be correct. After one more moment he linked the location to where they were. It was only about 0.2 miles away! He stood abruptly.

"I know where he's going, call Hotch tell them to meet us off of Ursas Street and Regal Ave. and tell them to bring the fire department!" Without another word to Prentiss, Reid began sprinting. There was no time to lose.

He ran as fast as he could, attempting to cross streets without getting hit. He zigzagged his way through the streets. A minute and a half later he arrived, panting, at the house.

The car was in the driveway, so the family was clearly home. He ran his hand through sweaty hair, trying to catch his breath. The house wasn't up in flames yet, but that didn't mean the unsub wasn't already inside.

He glanced around the neighborhood, spotting an ancient looking white van sitting diagonally across the road. That was the car they'd profiled for the unsub. Reid's heart sped up once more, and he quickly drew his weapon. He knew he should probably wait for backup, but he didn't think there was enough time.

He was going in.

Walking stealthily to the door, he took a deep breath before opening.

He cleared the rooms quickly. No one was on the main level. The whole house smelled of gasoline though; that couldn't be good. Looking down at his feet he realized the floors had practically been soaked. If there was one spark, the whole house would ignite. He heard noise coming from upstairs. It sounded like yelling.

Reid made his way up the stairs, keeping his gun drawn. He cleared a few more rooms before heading towards the source of the noise. The closed door at the end of the hall. He made his way forward, the yelling becoming louder and louder as he approached. He noticed another trail of gasoline, leading down the edges of the hallway.

"Shut up! Shut up! You're a sacrifice for which I cannot spare! It isn't my fault you were home today! You could have saved yourselves!" the unsub was screaming.

Reid quickly busted the door open, aiming his gun at the unsub.

"FBI!" He yelled. the room was a mess and the smell of gasoline was very strong. A woman was tied up with rope, duct tape over her mouth sitting on the floor. She had an abrasion on the back of her head, clearly, he'd blitzed her. Her two small children were sitting next to her, unhurt but fear in their eyes.

"I have to sacrifice you too now. You shouldn't have come here!" the man yelled, holding his lighter. High in the air.

"Put the lighter down!" Reid yelled. "Hephaestus wouldn't be pleased to know you've let people burn in his fire," he attempted to reason, "he used his fire to create things, you're using it to destroy, he wouldn't like that!"
"NO, NO, NO!"

"Please, put the lighter down! I don't want to hurt you!"

The unsub shook his head in anger. A look passed his eyes and Reid knew he was screwed. He should've waited for backup; the man had made up his mind.

"Don't!" Reid yelled.

The lighter seemed to ignite and drop in slow motion. Reid lunged forwards, trying to grab the lighter midair, but he missed. He fell to the floor, luckily out of the way of the gasoline, and the room immediately ignited. The unsub stood in the fire, screaming, but he'd accepted his fate.

Reid focused on the family, he needed to save them.

He pulled himself off the ground, scrambling over to the mother.

"Run kids run!" He ordered the children, hoping they'd at least make it out of the room. The two turned and bolted out the door, the older dragging the younger by the hand. Reid grabbed his pocketknife. He quickly took the duct tape off her mouth and sliced through the ropes. Once they were off, he helped her up and began herding her towards the door. The room had lit up quickly, and the flames were licking Reid's skin.

In the hallway, the two kids were waiting. The rest of the upstairs had seemed to ignite, and he was sure the downstairs would follow soon if it hadn't already. The mother picked up the youngest child, cradling her in her arms.

"Go, go, GO!" Reid yelled, herding them down the hall to the stairs. He trailed behind, making sure their path was clear. Suddenly a room seemed to explode next to him. The man must have soaked it in gasoline because it sounded like a big boom. They ran down the staircase quickly. Everyone was coughing and the kids were crying, scared. The downstairs was engulfed in flames. There was no way to get out through the front door. It seemed that the large blast Reid had heard was the floor collapsing into the downstairs. Debris was all over the place.

Reid began coughing while he tried to figure a way out. He ran down an adjacent hallway, grabbing the handle of a closed door. He yelped in pain, pulling his hand back. The knob was scorching hot and had burned him badly.

"Do you have a back door or anything?" He yelled.

The woman nodded, pointing the opposite direction. Reid nodded, beginning to rejoin the group when he heard a creak from above. The older child looked up as well and Reid's heart jumped. The ceiling above the kid was going to collapse.

Without a second thought Reid dove forwards, pushing the child out of the way just in time. However, he wasn't so lucky. The ceiling came down on him, pinning Reid to the ground. He felt all the air get pushed out of his lungs and his body screamed in pain. There was heat all around him and he couldn't breathe.

Arms were grabbing his and he lazily opened his eyes. The woman was trying to pull him out. Reid shook his head, waving her away.

"Go!" He yelled as loud as he could, "Get out of here!"

She opened her mouth to protest but he cut her off.

"There isn't time! Save your kids!" she paused, tears filling her eyes and she nodded. She picked up the smaller child and grabbed the other one's hand. She sent one last thankful nod at Reid before sprinting down the other hallway.

Reid coughed, watching her retreat.

'Please, God, let them get out.' He prayed. He began to cough even more as the smoke inhalation was taking its toll. It was so hot; he was sticky with sweat and something else too.

'Probably blood' he surmised, considering his current situation. Reid moved his arms, luckily neither of them had been pinned. He attempted to lift the debris, but it was too heavy, and he was weakening by the minute. His ankle felt broken and his back was incredibly bruised. He could feel heat licking at his legs, but because he couldn't move his ankle out from where it was caught, he was stuck

Reid began coughing again. It was becoming harder and harder to catch his breath. He suddenly heard a noise coming from the hallway the family had run down. Light was filtering into the hall, a different light, like light from the outside rather than from flames.

Reid was becoming exhausted from the effort and lack of oxygen. He became unable to keep his eyes open. His coughs became smaller and smaller until his lungs stopped cooperating completely. Reid knew that he needed to try to take another breath, but his body was telling him to stop, to succumb to the unconsciousness.

An echoing voice yelled something as he took one final, shallow breath. This was it. He was dying. His lungs gave up and Reid stopped fighting.