A.N. Author peeks out from behind a brick wall-Hey all. Sorry this took so long, but um finding transcripts for criminal minds episodes is appairently really really hard. Also, writting from a transcript is weird, but since I want to be as correct as possible I kinda needed to. And added to that the script ebing online means it's a bit hard for me to write on the go. Good news is that this chapter is like double the length of the previous two! Also, I switch from Spencer/Reid and Derek/Morgan depending on who's POV it is. Since I relate more to Spencer he's more often the POV character. Anyways Enjoy, review, and please don't kill me 3 *hides again*
Loves' Denial
Chapter Two-Season 1 Episode 1 Part 1
Joseph Conrad said, "The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary. Men alone are quite capable of every wickedness."
Time had flown since the day Spencer had joined the BAU. He'd bonded with the team, and even his awkward first meeting with Morgan had been all but forgotten. He felt completely at home with the team now, like he belonged completely. He looked up to Hotch, respected Morgan, adored J.J., and even enjoyed Garcia's special brand of insanity. Gideon, of course, remained his mentor and confidant. He'd guided Spencer and pushed him until he was able to stand certain of his place here. Everything was going as well as it could when serial killer and other criminals were part of the equation. Of course, it would be just as Spencer was really starting to settle into his place that Boston happened.
Nothing about the case seemed to indicate a major problem. Serial bomber, signature was his handcrafted and delivered bombs wrapped in brown paper with the address printed on them I neat blue ink. The locals couldn't deal with it on their own, so they'd sent for the FBI and the FBI had sent their team.
Everything had started out as normal. They'd built the profile, and have eventually narrowed down the suspects to Adrian Bale. They'd gone to bring him in and that's where it had all gone wrong. Bale had gotten world, somehow, that they were on to him, and he'd fled with one of his homemade bombs. They'd managed to corner him, but he'd had a hostage with him. He'd strapped a bomb onto the hostage and there had been a standoff between the FBI agents and Bale. They'd thought that Gideon had managed to talk him down, but just as it seemed about to end peacefully Bale had activated the bomb killing the hostage and six FBI agents.
In the aftermath Bales was locked up, never to hurt another innocent, and Gideon was crushed with guilt over the agent's death. He took some time off to go teach, and Spencer who still felt closer to Gideon than the rest of the team, and worried about his mentor's mental health, followed him back into the world of academia. Spencer did enjoy being back in that world, knowledge was after all his first love, but he was surprised how much he missed the rest of the team and being out in the field. He found he especially missed Derek-though that part he would never admit, even to himself.
As the months went by, Spencer's longing for the team, and for the field grew. Thankfully, Gideon's mental health also seemed to be steadily improving. With this in mind he was not particularly surprised when he got the phone call telling them that their break was over and they needed to come back in.
This particular day, Gideon was teaching on "the Footpath Killer" who he had profiled before. Spencer had bee in Gideon's office grading some papers when his phone has started ringing. Glancing at it his heart leaped a bit when he recognized Hotch's caller id.
"Reid" he said by way of greeting as he answered.
"Reid, we have a case. The file should be on its way to you now, Morgan and I will be there within the hour. We need you and Gideon back in the field for this one." Hotch's voice told him from the other end of the phone.
Spencer's heart gave its customary flip flop at Morgan's name. While he was quite sure that Morgan was not "his" Derek Morgan it was still a constant reminder of the name that adorned his wrist. A name he's spent most of his lie trying to forget about…. Spencer shook he head to get rid of these useless thoughts, gave his boss a quick affirmative and hung up the phone.
The messenger Hotch had sent made good time, and soon Spencer was on his way down to the classroom Gideon was lecturing in. Opening the door quietly, Spencer slipped in and when Gideon glanced his way he held the file up. His mentor quickly ended the class. Spencer waited for the trainees to leave before leading Gideon out into the hallway. Having read the case file on his way to get the other Spencer began to fill him in.
"They're calling him the Seattle strangler, four victims in four months. He keeps them alive seven days. The handle serves as a crank" he summarized.
"Allowing him to control the rate of suffocation" Gideon mused.
"To prolong it?" Reid theorized.
"To enjoy it" Gideon corrected. "Seattle's hit a wall?"
"Physical evidence is nonexistent. There are no tangible leads" Spencer explains.
"And another girl is missing" Gideon said as they arrived at his office. "I'll get some thoughts to you asap" he added leading Spencer in. Spencer opened his mouth to correct him when another voice beat him to it.
"You'll be with us in Seattle asap" Hotch said entering the office with Morgan right behind him.
"22-year old Heather Woodland" Morgan said holding out a picture of her towards Gideon and Spencer.
"Before she left for her lunch she downloaded an email with a time-delayed virus attached. The killer's virus wiped her hard drive and left this on the screen" Hotch added, handing Gideon a photo of the computer screen.
"For heaven's sake, catch me before I kill more. I cannot control myself." Gideon read off glancing at a framed photo of a crime scene of William Heiren's which bore the same message.
"He never keeps them for more then 7 days, which means we have fewer than 36 hours to find her" Hotch told them.
"They want you back in the saddle. You ready?" Morgan asked sounding concerned.
"Looks like medical leave's over boss" Spencer stated drily.
"They sure they want me?" Gideon questioned.
"The order came from the director" Hotch explained.
"Well, we'd better get started" Gideon stated. Spencer nodded and they all scattered to get their stuff.
Soon enough they all found themselves rendezvousing at the airport and boarding the team's private jet. Spencer paused while climbing the steps to the plane when he noticed Hotch lagging behind to talk to Strauss. He listened intently, trying to overhear what they were saying.
"This girl may only have 36 hours to live. We're not asking for a judgement of Gideon. We want an assessment. We want to know you're there to step in if he can't perform. Are we clear?" Strauss was telling Hotch.
"Of course" Hotch murmured turning away. Spencer ignored the churning in his stomach and finished climbing into the plane.
Once everyone had settled into their seats and they were in the air, the conversation among the team turned back to the case at hand. Spencer began to recap it from the very beginning-with the first known victim.
"His first victim was 26-year-old Melissa Kirsh. Stab wounds, strangulation." Morgan frowned at him once he had finished.
"Wait, wait. Back up. Back up. He stabbed her….and then strangled her to finish her off?" He asked.
"Other way around" Gideon says shaking his head. "Why do you think he started using the belt with the second murder?"
Spencer nodded thoughtfully. "Strangulation with your bare hands is not as easy as one would believe. He tried, probably found that it took too long…" here he tailed off.
"So he stabbed her instead" Derek finished up for him, while Spencer pointedly ignored the way that made his heart jump.
"And realized it would be hours cleaning up the blood" Hotch continued.
"Next time, our boy's got a method….the belt" Morgan finished.
"He's learning, perfecting his scenario. Becoming a better killer" Gideon concluded.
The team lapsed into silence at this, and they remained lost in their own thought for the rest of the trip. Soon enough they arrived in Seattle, and grabbing the waiting cares they headed over to the local FBI base. As soon as they got inside the building Morgan pulled Spencer aside. Spencer made sure to keep his breathing as even as he always had to when Derek touched him. He pushed away any thoughts of how his wrist always seemed to burn pleasantly when this happened and tried to concentrate on what the other man wanted.
Morgan glanced at Gideon, which gave Spencer a pretty good idea of what this conversation was going to be about before he started talking. "He never stands with his back to a window. When I was between him and a doorway, he asked me to move." Spencer nodded, having noticed similar things.
"That's hyper vigilance. It's not uncommon in past traumatic stress disorder" Spencer explains.
"Just how much disorder are we talking about" Derek demanded concerned just as Hotch came up behind them.
"Morgan, it's been six months. Everything's ok" Hotch told them ending the conversation at least for the moment, and dragging them over to meet the other agents.
"This is special agent Gideon, special agent Morgan-our expert on obsessional crimes, special agent Reid" Hotch started to introduce them.
"Dr. Reid" Gideon corrected.
"Dr. Reid" Hotch amended, "our expert on….well almost everything. And after two years busting my butt in this office I hope you all remember me" he finished. This generates scattered laughter from the various agents. While he was doing this Gideon, Spencer, and Derek wandered over to inspect the bulletin boards with case information that had been set up in the back of the base.
"He's willing to travel with the body" Gideon observes as he studies the map.
"Then he drives vehicle capable of concealing one" Hotch said, stating the obvious.
"1 in 7.4 drivers in Seattle owns an SUV" Spencer informs them.
"Explorer with tinted windows" Morgan suggests.
"Explorers rate higher with women" Spencer replies.
"But how do we know it's his car?" Morgan counters. "Ted Bundy drove a VW bug."
"What about a Jeep Cherokee?" Hotch throw out.
"Jeeps are more masculine" Spencer agrees.
"We all know how an unsub feels about asserting his masculinity" Gideon adds in.
Hotch turns to the local agents, "when did the bureau become involved in the case?"
"After the fourth body. He dumped that one out of state" an agent replies.
"On purpose" Hotch observed.
"If so, knowledge of law enforcement does suggest a criminal record" Spencer points out.
"Or that he watches television" Morgan disagrees. "May I?" he asks.
"So you wanna see our suspect list" the agent asks.
"No, we won't look at a suspect list until after we come up with a profile. It keeps out perspective unbiased" Hotch explains.
"When do we sit down with your task force?" Gideon questions.
"Four o'clock" another agent replies.
"An accurate profile by four o'clock today?" Morgan demands incredulously.
"That's not a problem" Gideon counters.
"Agent Gideon, where would you like to start?" Hotch asks him.
"Let's start at the sight of the last murder" Gideon decides. Hotch agreed to send Gideon to the sight, and assigns Morgan to go with him while he and Spencer went to meet with the latest missing girl's brother.
With Derek
Somehow Derek finds himself being the one accompanying Gideon out into the field. He can't help but feel a bit uneasy about it considering what had happened with Bale and how he'd been acting since. Hell Gideon hadn't even really wanted to return-he'd been ordered to! On the other hand though he'd been working with the older man for years now, and Gideon had helped him out of many a situation over those years. For now, he decided to wait and watch.
"So that's Gideon? The Gideon. The one who caught that guy, Adrian Bale, I Boston?" one of the policemen around questioned him.
"Yep. That's him. But catching him cost us six agents" Derek replies. He and the officer then lapsed into silence for a few moments before he decided to wander over to Gideon.
"22-year-old Anne Cushings was found right here. Nails clipped just like the others. He wants them to fight back" Derek observes.
"But not enough to hurt him" Gideon returned. "And he left the belt around her neck. He's probably in his early 20s."
Derek looks at him puzzled. "What's your reasoning?"
"Youthful arrogance" Gideon replies simply.
"He clothed the body before dumping it" Morgan remarks.
"That's a sign of remorse" Gideon points out.
"It's not consistent. Look where we are. His opinion of women is pretty clear; don't you think?" Morgan asks while gesturing around them.
"They're disposable" Gideon agrees.
"Why show remorse by taking the time to dress her, but then dump her here?" Morgan wondered.
With Spencer
Spencer hovered awkwardly by Hotch as Heather's brother David let them in. As soon as he crossed the threshold Heather's dog started barking at him.
"Sandy, no, no, no," David said, holding the dog back. "I'm sorry" he apologised to Spencer.
"No, it's okay. It's what we call the Reid effect. Happens with children too. I'm agent Hotchner. This is special agent Dr. Reid" Hotch explained to a surprised looking David.
"You look too young to have gone to medical school" David remarked eying Spencer a bit skeptically.
"they're PhD's. Three of them" Spencer explained with a practiced ease.
"Are you a genius or something?" David asked wide eyed.
"I don't believe that intelligence can be accurately quantified, but I do have an I.Q. of 187, and an eidetic memory, and can read 20,000 words a minute" Spencer explains. Both Hotch and David are staring at him, and he sighs-accepting defeat.
"I'm a genius" he says in a monotone. Hotch, felt the awkwardness permeating the air in the room and decided to divert everyone's attention.
"Sandy, you get a lot of attention, don't you?" he says to the dog.
"Yeah, Heather loves this dog. I feed her when Heather's away. Usually she's fine, but lately she won't eat. It's almost like she can sense something's wrong" David replies worryingly.
"Not sense. Smell. Our apocrine sweat gland releases secretions in response to emotional stress" Spencer explained as he poked around the apartment.
"Sandy's worried because she knows you are" Hotch translated.
"David, does your sister drive a Datsun Z?" Spencer questioned while looking at the car magazines he'd found on Heather's table.
"No, but she's in the market for one. How's you know?" David asked in surprise.
"There's an immediate relationship established between a buyer and a seller, a level of trust. If I want to coax a young woman into my car…" Spencer trailed off.
"Offer her a test drive" Hotch finished for him.
FBI Field Office
"Okay, then how about the fact that on one hand we have paranoid psychosis but the autopsy protocol says what?" Morgan asks.
"Adhesive residue shows he put layer after layer of duct tape over his victims' eyes" Spencer replies easily.
"He knows he wants to kill them, but he still covers their eyes. He doesn't want them looking at him apparently" Morgan muses. "Okay, but then he takes the body and dumps it in the open, murder weapon nearby."
"Not the M.O. of a paranoid convinced he's being watched or surveilled" Spencer points out.
"Paranoid psychosis, but behaviour that's not paranoid" Derek says thoughtfully as Gideon suddenly stops them
"All right, enough. Let's tell them we're ready" Gideon announces walking out of the conference room.
"We're ready?" Morgan asks incredulously. "Reid. You're good with this? We've got a woman who's only got a few hours left to live, and incomplete profile, and a unit chief on the verge of a nervous breakdown."
"They don't call them nervous breakdowns anymore" Gideon mentions as he re-enters the room.
"It's called a major depressive episode" Spencer supplies.
"I know Reid" Morgan mutters irritably.
Conference Room
Soon they were all gathered into a big conference room to present the profile to the local law enforcement and the Seattle FBI. Derek still felt deeply uncomfortable. He didn't believe that the profile was complete and worried that giving it out could do harm rather than good. Absently he rubbed at the band on his wrist above his soulmark.
Spencer for his part could feel a building worry in the back of his mind. He knew that these emotions had to belong to his soulmate, which was odd since emotions were not usually transferred unless bondmates had met and exchanged skin to skin contact. However, he pushed these thoughts forcefully to the back of his brain. His soulmate, his Derek, meant nothing to him, and he had a job to do.
"The unidentified subject is white and in his late 20's. He's someone you wouldn't notice at first. He's someone who'd blend into any crowd. The violent nature of the crime suggests a previous criminal record… petty crimes. Maybe auto theft. We've classified him as an organized killer… careful. Psychopathic as opposed to psychotic. He follows the news, has good hygiene. He's smart. 'Cause he's smart, the only physical evidence you'll find is what he wants you to find. He's mobile, car in good condition. Our guess… Jeep Cherokee, tinted windows. The murders have all involved rapes. But rape without penetration is a form of piquerism, and that tells us he's sexually inadequate. Psychiatric evaluations will show a history of paranoia stemming from a childhood trauma… death of a parent or family member. And now he feels persecuted and watched. Murder gives him a sense of power. Organized killers have a fascination with law enforcement. They will inject themselves into the investigation. They will even come forward as witnesses to see just how much the police really know. That makes them feel powerful, in control. Which is why I also think… in fact, I know… you have already interviewed him" Gideon told agents and officers.