A.N. Hey all, have a chapter. So, I'm not sure I ever said but this is going to be a very slow burn fic. So, things are going to be very very close to cannon for the moment. Feel free to join Garcia and I complaining about these stubborn idiots over tea. On another note I am getting kind of annoyed with the C.M. writers and their lack of transitions. Scenes jump around so much, and character randomly switch locations and who they are with...so I kind of gave up. Pretend lines are scene breaks and such because I can't be bothered to make up and write long explanations between every single one, so time and location skips :P Please enjoy, and remember that reviews make me more likely to ditch homework to write (hint hint).
Loves' Denial
Chapter 4-Episode 2 Part 1
Einstein once said "Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world".
After the Seattle Strangler case things quickly returned to normal for the BAU team. Gideon stumbled upon, and managed to subdue the footpath killer with only a few bruises and a story making its way into an FBI legend to show for it. Elle Greenway had gotten the opening at the BAU and was settling in as the newest member of their team. They were between cases at that moment, which was how Spencer found himself at his desk without much to do. He was currently studying the ongoing chess game he had going with Gideon. It was his move, and he was trying to decide what to do. Believing in being thorough he examined the game from all angles before making his move. Just as he did, Gideon came bounding down into the bullpen and giving the game a quick once over he moved a piece of his own.
"Check. Checkmate in three moves" He said before wandering away. Spencer glanced down at the board in surprise and confusion.
"What?" he murmurs to himself.
"You know you'll beat him when you start learning." Morgan interjects from his nearby desk where he'd been watching.
"Learning what?" Spencer asks, too curious to be truly irritated.
"To think outside the box" Morgan replies easily. Spencer grimaces at that before turning back to his computer in an effort to appear busy. Out of the corner of his eye he can see Morgan doing the same. Their farce lasts only a few moments before they're once again interrupted. This time it's by Elle.
"Question for you" she says walking over to them.
"Shoot" Morgan replies easily abandoning his computer once again.
"The footpath killer, why did he stutter?" She asks.
"Come on, Elle, we've all asked him, and he won't say" Morgan says. "he wants us to figure it out" he adds.
"Ok, I'm up for a challenge" Elle declares defiantly.
"Good, because these go to you" J.J. says while dropping a stack of folders on Elle's desk. "Special Agent Jennifer Jareau. J.J. if you like" she introduces herself shaking Elle's hand.
"Elle" Elle replies starts her own introduction when J.J. cuts in, "Greenway-highest number of solved cases in Seattle three years running, specialty in sex offender cases."
"Not bad" Elle replies, clearly impressed.
J.J.'s already walking away from them and up the stairs as she speaks. "Well, I'm the unit liaison. My specialty is untangling bureaucratic knots. You'll probably be talking to me a lot. My door's always open, mostly because I'm never in my office, so just call me on my cell, OK? We'll talk" she says before breaking off to talk to Hotch.
"B.A.U. team, can you meet me in the conference room, please? I need to show you something" Hotch's voice rings out a minute later causing the rest of the team to spring into action. Minutes later they've all found their places around the table.
"This is from the Phoenix office. Bradshaw College in Tempe, six fires in seven months" Hotch says indicating the screen behind him after everyone had settles.
"Who recorded it?" Gideon asks.
"A student with a digital camcorder. He was watching a fire in the building across from their dorm. The other person you'll see is his roommate, 20-year-old Matthew Rowland" J.J. answers before pressing play on the video.
The vide shows a student excitedly watching a fire and telling his roommate to come see. The two comment on the fire for a few moments before noticing someone liquid starting to seep in from under the door. As Mathew goes to investigate the liquid the doorknob turns a few times as if someone was trying to get in, and then suddenly the liquid is alight. The fire quickly spreads to Matthew. The video fades out as the filming student drops the camera and rushes over to his roommate to try in vein to help him.
There's silence for a moment after the video finishes before Hotch speaks up, "the Dean is very concerned about the possibility of more deaths. Wheels up I thirty, we'll go over the rest n the plane." It's a clear dismissal and the team scatters to grab their go-bags and get ready.
On the Plane
"There are two common stressors for serial arsonists" Spencer starts once the plane is in the air.
"Loss of job, loss of love" Elle elaborates in agreement.
"When was the first fire set?" Morgan asks.
"March. Uh, the next one was in May, and the third one wasn't 'til September. Then two weeks later there were three in one night" Hotch reads from an open file.
"He's speeding up. Fires are closer together" Gideon observes.
"Hey, Reid, you got a statistic on arsonists?" Morgan asks, automatically turning to the younger agent to fill in any blanks he may have. He ignored how right it felt and how well he and the younger agent seemed to fit together.
"82% are white males between 17 and 27. Female arsonists are far less likely, their motive typically being revenge" Spencer recites, unknowingly cutting off Morgan's internal dialogue.
"Sounds like our boy's a student" Morgan states, focussing back on the case and forgetting what he's been thinking about.
"Don't be so sure. You rely too much on precedent, you never allow for the unexpected" Gideon cautions the team. "If he went from setting one fire to three in two weeks time…." He trails off.
"Rapid escalation" Hotch agrees.
"He's gone from the power to damage a building to something far more satisfying: the power over life and death" Gideon muses. "Who are we talking to first?" he asks.
"Dean of Students, Ellen Turner" Hotch answers.
After that announcement the team lapses into silence. They remain that way, each lost in their own contemplations, for the rest of the flight. Once they land Hotch directs them to the two black S.U.V.'s. They all grab and seat and then head towards the school to get to work. A short drive later they pile out of the cars and unto Bradshaw campus.
"No badges. I don't want to satisfy the unsub's need for attention by letting him know he got the F.B.I. here. Try not to look official" Gideon instructs once they are all gathered. He gives them a once over and corrects with a grimace "try to look less official". That said he turns and walks away knowing that others would follow after him. They soon meet up with Dean Turner who is conversing with another man. Introductions were made, and the Dean began to show them around the campus.
"Obviously, I'd rather be meeting you under different circumstances" Turner says as they begin the tour. "This is Fire Inspector Zhang" she adds indicating the man she'd been conversing with earlier who had stuck with them.
"This morning the chemistry department reported several bottles of highly flammable chemicals missing Zhang updates them.
"I'm prepared to evacuate the campus" Turner adds, clearly very concerned about the situation. "Thank you" She tacks on when Gideon and Hotch open the doors of the building they were heading towards for her.
"That brings with it its own problems" Hotch tells her, referring to the evacuation plan.
"You might evacuate the arsonist as well" Gideon adds.
"Then the fire case goes unsolved, the campus is reopened, but the fires start again" Elle elaborates.
"Hotch, Gideon, hold on a second" Morgan buts in causing the other conversation to stop. "You said the chemicals were reported missing today?" He clarifies with Zhang who makes an un-huh noise in agreement.
"It says here that one of the previous fires was set with diesel fuel that disappeared from the grounds keeping facility" he says indicating a file he's been re-examining. "How long after it disappeared was the fire set?" he asks.
"One day" Turner replies with trepidation in her voice. Gideon and Hotch exchange a quick glance before walking away together. They returned a minute later with serious looks on their faces and decided to split the team up into groups and check out all the previous fire sites. They arranged to meet up again after they were all finished. Spencer ended up paired with Hotch to investigate dorm room where Matthew Rowland had died.
"The door was locked" Hotch points out as Spencer pushes the police tape aside so they can enter the room.
"Matthew Rowland and his roommate watched as the doorknob turned against the lock" Spencer recalls from the video.
"But the unsub couldn't get in" Hotch says.
"So he pours the accelerant into the room from the hallway" Spencer continues.
"Which means he couldn't see the fire" Hotch muses.
"But he could hear Matthew Rowland screaming" Spencer counters.
"Yeah, but not for long. He would have left quickly" Hotch points out.
"Yeah, to avoid being spotted" Spencer agrees.
"It doesn't make sense" Hotch grumbles.
"Pyromania as a mental disorder may just be a simple myth, but we do know from precedent that serial arsonists derive pleasure from pathological fire-setting" Spencer tells him.
"Sex and power" Hotch agrees referring to most arsonists motivations.
"But a serial arsonist wouldn't set a fire and walk away" Spencer says.
"He needs to experience it" Hotch concurs.
"So why would he set a fire he couldn't watch?" Spencer asks.
Later with the entire team
Once everyone had finished checking out their assigned sites they gathered back in the room Dean Turner had given them. Shortly after Dean Turner walked in with Zhang who was carrying a box which he set on the table in the middle of the room before opening it. Inside were a couple of badly burnt ignition devices, clearly the work of their unsub.
"He turned the water off just before the fire. The last three were set with these. Two devices, simultaneous ignition" Zhang explains.
"There was no device used on Matthew Rowland. Unsub set that one manually?" Gideon asks.
"He wanted to be there to enjoy the kid's death" Morgan suggests.
"Not necessarily" Hotch counters.
"Well, if the target was Matthew Rowland, then why set the other two fires" Elle questions.
"The motive for arson are relatively simple. There's vandalism, crime concealment, political statement, profit, and-" Spencer cuts off as he gets to the last reason.
"And revenge" Hotch finishes for him.
"We interviewed Matthew Rowland's roommate. He said Matthew was very well-liked. No reason for revenge" Zhang counters.
"What about vandalism" Turner asks.
"No. The fires are too sophisticated, and if he's trying to make a political statement he's not being too clear about it" Elle answers.
"There's an underlying strategy in this case. Matthew, firefighters, injured victims" Gideon muses. "To the unsub, they're not people. They're…."
"They're objects" Hotch supplies.
"More like, uh…" Gideon picks up one of the devices and studies it as he tries to think of the right words.
"Chess pieces" Spencer suggests.
"Exactly" Gideon says throwing the device back into the box. "I need to think, something's not connecting here" he mutters as he walks away.
With Derek
"All right…" Derek muses standing on the balcony of Matthew's level of the dorms. "I want to set a dormitory fire. Where would I start?" He asks himself surveying the building.
"In the basement" he answers himself. "The upper levels would be fuel. Then why did I start on the third floor?" he questions thinking back to the video.
"Because it wasn't the building I wanted to set on fire" he realizes.
With Spencer
Spencer was sitting with Elle going over what they knew and tossing around ideas and theories.
"The timer sets the road flare, which then lights the chemical mixture inside the canister. Simple" Elle says.
"Yet sophisticated in its simplicity. I mean, there's a meticulous construction to it" Spencer adds.
Elle walks over the bank of monitors they'd finished setting up earlier. "Chemical accelerant could mean chemistry student" she suggests.
"Could also mean professor" Spencer points out.
"Mmm, I say student" Elle replies. "You need self-confidence to lecture in front of a classroom full of 30 college kids. Arsonists are socially incompetent" she explains. Spencer hums in agreement as he examines one of the devices again.
"This guy doesn't go on dates. He doesn't go to parties. He doesn't feel comfortable in front of groups" Elle goes on as Spencer looks up at her. "And of course, he's a total psychopath" she adds when she realizes she could have been describing him.
"Of course," Spencer agrees going back to examining the ignition device.
That night
"We've been at this all night, and we've got nothing" Morgan grumbles as he picks up one of the photographs Elle had taken at the scene of the fire earlier and then sets it back down. "Look at these expressions. We got fear, a touch of horror, even a little bit of panic. Where's the guy getting' off?" He demands heading towards where Spencer is sitting. Seeking the other out when he is in distress had quickly become instinctual after they started working together. It's something they both ignore, believing it is simply because they need to trust one another completely when out in the field.
"When asked about his motives Peter Dinsdale said, "I am devoted to fire. Fire is my master."" Spencer says, hoping it will help. Morgan gets a far away look in his eyes as he thinks about what Spencer just said.
"Ok, so who was our boy's master? 10,000 plus students…" Morgan pauses and flicks on a plastic lighter he'd had in his pocket. "And one has a serious fascination with fire" he finishes, flicking the lighter closed.
"Fire starting is one third of the homicidal triad…an early predictor of adult dissociative criminal behaviour. If we looked in his childhood, we'd probably find all three. Bedwetting…and cruelty to animals" Elle cuts in.
"Absent or abusive father, trouble with the opposite sec, chronic low self-esteem-M.O. would be dynamic. Evolving. Fire setting escalates, they thrive on panic, fear. It's just the standard profile of a serial arsonist" Gideon adds.
"Based on hundreds on interviews" Spencer agrees as Morgan says "based on precedent".
"Everything the unsub should be, according to research" Elle summarizes.
"We're off the mark" Hotch says, giving words to what the whole team has been thinking.
"Because of the two missing elements" Gideon concurs.
"Sex and power-the two motives that drive a serial arsonist" Morgan replies.
"And without them, we do not have a profile" Gideon finishes before walking away.