Disclaimer: Not my sandbox.
The team sat on the plane, going over the case that had been assigned to them earlier that night.
"So, let me get this straight," Prentiss said after they had been given the layout of the case. "You're telling us that the government keeps track of civilians who have abilities?" Hotch nodded stoically.
"Yes. Whether they are offered a position with the government or not, they are put into a database. It is only available to those with the highest clearance." The team had been given a case where people with abilities were being targeted and slaughtered. It started with a college student and a strange 911 call, but had escalated to three bodies, the latest two being a wealthy couple. The only connection that they seemed to have was that they were all in the database. One of the killers had called 911 from within the victim's house only minutes before the murders, claiming that the archangel Raphael would kill the sinners that live there. Said archangel would then take over the conversation before killing the victims and leaving a bible verse at the scene.
The team had been called out while at a Superbowl party, but now the mood was somber. They figured that the victims were being targeted simply because of what they could do, and it was weighing heavily on all of their minds.
"This is a bad one, isn't it?" Prentiss voiced everyone's thoughts after a few seconds of quiet.
"Unsubs with a cause are never good," Morgan agreed.
"You know, in the 911 call, the second Unsub said 'Raphael was gonna kill someone'," JJ pointed out. "I there a third?"
"Referring to oneself in the third person is not exactly uncommon for an Unsub," Reid interjected. "Ted Bundy gave thoroughly detailed accounts of his murders, but he never admitted to actually doing it. He would just say, 'The Killer'."
"We have a mission-based killing team in rural Georgia, we need to hit the ground running," Hotch said. "Reid, you and Rossi go to the latest crime scene, Prentiss and Morgan to the coroner, JJ with me at the station."
…
"Hey, are you okay?" Reid asked, and Rossi startled slightly. He forgot that the kid could feel his worry, and he prides himself on having a good poker face. That poker face wouldn't do him much good now, but he couldn't help but think about Gideon's dream- a premonition, whatever. He said that Reid mentioned not being a sinner, so what if something happened?
"I'm just… tired of people using religion as an excuse to kill," He bluffed, but Reid just nodded.
"How many times what Mr. Kyle stabbed?" Reid asked, catching the attention of one of the detectives.
"Stabbed isn't exactly the word I'd use," The officer said. "It's more like… sliced."
…
"They were long, deep gashes," The coroner explained to Prentiss and Morgan. "Each victim has practically the same wounds. All throats cut, a vertical gash up one arm from wrist to elbow, and another down one leg from crotch to upper thigh."
"Major arteries," Prentiss noted, and the coroner nodded.
"And it's damned efficient," He said.
"How much knowledge of anatomy would someone need to do this?" Morgan asked, grimacing slightly.
"Anyone with basic understanding of the human body knows where the arteries are."
"And, do you have any idea which of these was inflicted first?"
"There was active blood flow from each of the wounds, so I would say that they were all delivered at about the same time. With any of these wounds, the victims would bleed out quickly, almost like an animal at slaughter." He said, and Prentiss opened her mouth to ask another question when a realization seemed to dawn on him. "No, exactly like an animal at slaughter. Like a deer or a lamb or a cow or something like that, this is the exact process that is used." The mousey man said, and Morgan and Prentiss shared a significant look.
"So, maybe a hunter?" Prentiss suggested. "Or a farmer…"
"So, basically anyone in rural Georgia," Morgan said.
…
"So, I just talked to the last couple to leave the Kyles after the Superbowl party," JJ said as she approached Hotch, who was having a staring contest with the evidence board. "They said that the Kyles didn't have any enemies and were good to their employees. From what I could gather, they were just generally good people."
"So why them?"
"Well, if the trigger is their abilities, the husband had telekinesis and the wife could teleport," JJ said quietly, lowering her voice to an almost whisper.
"Yes, but you can't tell that by looking at them. We need to know how they were targeted."
"We went through unsolved cases, nothing even close matches the M.O." A dark-skinned officer interrupted them.
"Nothing involving knives?" Hotch asked, doubt lacing his tone.
"Well, just common crimes, robberies, bar fights."
"Can I take a look at some of those files?" She asked, making sure to bat her lashes.
"There's nothing there." He said, and she resisted the urge to shove past him and take a look at those files with or without his permission. It would not do to go making the locals angry so instead, she tucked some hair behind her ear and smiled at him.
"Help me out, okay? These guys aren't gonna let me do anything else, and I flew all the way out here, so…" She let herself trail off. He gave her he 'I-guess-I'll-humor-the-blond' look and smiled back.
"I'll show you the file room," He said. As he turned to show her where it was, JJ turned and gave Hotch a look. He nodded, and she let the officer lead the way.
…
Reid's phone went off and he grabbed it.
"Reid here," He said by way of greeting.
"You're at the second crime scene, right?" Garcia asked, he voice sounding slightly strained.
"Uh, yeah, why?" He asked.
"Is there a beige settee on the far wall, behind the bed?" She asked, and he frowned.
"Yes, Garcia why-"
"Ya know, I'm not gonna ask how you know what a settee is, but I think I might be watching the second murder."
"What? How?" He asked.
"My friend just sent me a viral video, and…" she trailed off. "It, uh, it's the victims being killed and it's gory."
A/N: So, just thought I'd get this out before the week started. Thank you to all those who have Read, followed, faved, or reviewed!