Illogical

Kireania

Disclaimer: I do not own CM. I do not make money off of this.

Warning: Nothing really. Just mention of abuse.

Chapter 2: Angels Cry

"Welcome back to the morning news," a middle aged anchor woman with a serious voice came back on the large television screen. It was obvious that she was meant to be the center of attention. "I am Cassandra Levy and we have returned from the commercials to refocus back on the big story that has been going on for the last three months. Officials are still puzzled over who could be behind the disappearance of ten women. Two of which have been found decapitated in a local cemetery soon after they had been kidnapped. Eight are still missing and the police are asking that every young woman between the ages of 18-26 be careful in these horrific times. Now it's…"

The small group of people watching the large screen grimaced almost at the same time. Each feeling the heavy burden of the case put before them. Though they had just been assigned to it, there was already a lot of media attention.

"I can't believe they waited until now to get us here." Morgan spoke with annoyance obvious in his rich voice.

"It's not that easy to get us assigned to a case, Morgan." JJ sighed lightly. She was upset too at the system and what it took for them to become involved.

"Well let's not just sit around and waste time. What do we know so far?" Gideon as always focused the unhappy group. His dark eyes now rested on the board in the back of the room. Pictures of the victims were already taped up. Not shocking Reid was the first to speak.

"First kidnapping took place approximately fifteen weeks ago. The woman's name is Angela Saver. Age twenty two. Single. In college with a major in Music. No outside job. Her body was found decapitated in a local cemetery two weeks after she was reported missing." Reid repeated the fact that he read from the case file. His voice strong with known information. He continued to speak about the victims; none of the team interrupted him.

"Second kidnapping. Valerie Cap. Age 24. Engaged to Anthony Bache, age 26. Graduated from Muhlenberg with a BS in Political Science. No body found. Taken twelve weeks ago." Reid's mind and hand jumped to the third victim. His mind categorizing everything as he repeated what he had read earlier.

"Third kidnapping. Savie Roland. Age 22 G.E.D. Manager for local JCPenny. Initially taken eleven weeks ago. Her body was found decapitated in the same cemetery one week after her initial disappearance. Husband George Clany. No children nor was she pregnant.

Fourth kidnapping. Grace Adkins. Age 21. Community College. Field Criminal Justice. Boyfriend Leon Rack. Age 23. No body found. Taken nine weeks ago.

Fifth kidnapping. Tabitha Rowe. Age 19. G.E.D. Employed with Mcdonalds as a cook. Girlfriend Amelia Jones. Age 18. No body found. Taken two days after fourth victim.

Sixth kidnapping. Leona Kale. Age 18. Graduated High school two months ago. Cashier at local food store. Girlfriend Reese Lithe. Age 21. No body found. Taken eight weeks ago.

Seventh kidnapping. Rogan Loya. Age 26. BS in Chemistry. Research assistant at local research facility. Single. No body found. Taken seven weeks ago.

Eighth kidnapping. Monica Galey. Age 25. BA in sculpture. Self employed. Single. No body found. Taken two days after seventh victim.

Ninth and tenth kidnappings. Twin sisters Lotus and Jasmine Reola. Ages 22. Lotus: Married to Jason Creed. Age 22. One child age two months. Jasmine: Single. Both are employed in the family run modeling agency. No bodies found. Taken six weeks ago.

No other kidnappings or bodies have been reported since the last two victims." Reid finished up and stared at the group, his eyes though were far away. His brain trying to analyze everything. "I wonder why the unsub has stopped taking girls."

"Perhaps he's still searching. It looks like he's pretty particular about who he chooses. These victims all have natural blonde hair. Fair to pale skin. The only thing that isn't similar is their eye colors and exact facial feature." Morgan frowned and looked at the two dead girls. "The decapitated victims were found in loose white dresses with no shoes and dried dirt on their feet. Either they're being kept outside or near a garden of some sort. Neither had signs of any other injuries save slight dehydration and mild starvation. Food was found in their stomachs but it was limited to fruits and weirdly enough honey."

"Our unsub is definitely still searching. But for what? What fantasy is he playing out here? Why these girls? What do they symbolize and why are the first and third victims the only ones found dead. Besides the decapitation these girls were not too badly cared for. We have seen much worse…"Hotch rubbed his eyes and sighed. With the media and the uppers breathing down his neck he could already feel the strain of this new case. There was just so little to go on. "There were no other clues present at the body dump sites."

"Are you sure? A lot of cults, especially older based ones, have rituals for decapitation. It's usually used as a means to ensure that the body cannot rise again. Often it's found in mythology dealing with werewolves, vampires, daemons, witches, etc. The fact that both of the women found were in white dresses suggests a view of perceived innocence. But why would the unsub decapitate two that he sees as holding innocence…" Reid's argument made sense and as usual the team bounced off of each other. Each filling in where the other's trailed off.

"A betrayal could do it." JJ joined in. Reid's theory made sense and she could see where this was going sort of. "Usually the only way to change a way that one is perceived is to change how you act. To do something that is not expected. Perhaps they didn't play into the fantasy they were forced into."

"Yes but what is this guy's fantasy. I don't know about anyone else but this isn't triggering something in my head as familiar. There's nothing sexual going on. Nothing that screams I want to hurt or gain power over them. It all just seems like this guy wanted a tea party and had to force these girls to join." Elle was frustrated. This case wasn't like the other cases they did. Dark eyes stared up at the board that held the women's pictures. The two dead women were marked with red push pins.

"Well it looks like…"Gideon trailed off. There was a loud commotion in the main area. Looking through the door to the borrowed conference room he saw a young man and woman enter the area, anger and fear raging for dominance on their faces.

"Sir, you can't just barge in here…Sir?" A local cop tried to block the man but at the sight of the other one's gaze the cop backed down.

The blonde man looked around as if searching for something specific. "I want to talk to who ever is in charge right now." The same cop that had cowered stepped forward and the man just scoffed. "Not you. I want the one that is conducting the search of the missing girls…"

Hotchner having watched the scene as well finally stepped forward and spoke to the man. "I am Special Agent Aaron Hotchner. FBI. What can I help you with?"

Dark eyes stared up silently at the man for a moment but a slight nod was issued. "My sister she has gone missing. I think she was kidnapped by the same guy that you're looking for."

Hotchner motioned for the man and woman to come up the stairs. Within moments the couple was in the borrowed room answering the BAU team's questions. "What makes you think your sister just hasn't run away?"

A sigh and a shake of a tired head, "She would never run anywhere but to my home. It has been like that for years now. Ever since our mother was killed and our stepfather took over her custody."

"You don't sound thrilled about that." A snort was Morgan's answer.

"Thrilled? You have to be kidding me. I've been petitioning for custody of my sister since I was twenty and had a stable job. That jack ass of a man is abusive and he keeps putting off the court dates. I don't know every reason he's given but it's now been lasting for five years."

"You said she always ran to you?" Reid tipped his head to the side, analyzing as usual.

"Yes. She is known for sneaking out of that man's house and walking the three miles to my place. She sometimes stays a few days before she goes back. But don't think she goes back willingly. It's just that the last time she stayed at my place too long the cops tried to arrest me. She doesn't want that to happen again so she times her stays.

It's annoying because she never stays long enough to heal from the last round of abuse. I've gone to the cops and social workers, but no one is doing anything. And now she's been kidnapped. What more does she have to go through?"

The team watched the man speak. They could all see his pain, even though he didn't cry or even slump. He was in control of his pain. Gideon spoke first.

"Do you have a recent picture of her?" Sad eyes looked up to the profiler.

"No I don't. I don't have anything recent of hers…I just got back from my honeymoon. We've been gone for four months. I didn't even know there were kidnappings going on until I got back three nights ago. Then I saw it on the news.

I thought she would be safe from this man. I mean she isn't blonde and the others are all blonde. She has pitch black hair. It's long, past her waist actually. Though it's normally in a long braid. She's pale, not enough sunlight in her life and she has mismatched eyes."

This caught the profilers' attention. Reid again questioned. "Mismatched eyes?"

"Yea she has one green eye and one gold eye. They've been like that for as long as I can remember. And trust me I remember most of her life. I'm nine years older than she is. She's only just turned sixteen. Yet another reason I thought she was safe. She's younger than any of the others. Why did this guy take my sister? She's nothing like the others…"

"Maybe that's actually why he took her." Gideon stated. The entire group looked at the older man in confusion. "We already came to the conclusion that the unsub stopped the kidnapping suddenly because he was searching. He's particular yes but he's not that particular except for this girl. Maybe the others are not the important ones here. Maybe they're all just background…"

"It would be most helpful if we could get the most recent picture of your sister as possible." JJ spoke calmly to the shocked couple.

"Picture…WAIT I have a really recent one. Just taken like six months ago!" The young wife stood up and opened her large purse. Taking out a sealed envelope the brunette handed the envelope over. "My husband had told me about a time when they were watching television with their mother and he had dared Merci to get a photo shoot similar to the ones that were being taken done. I thought it would be a fun surprise to surprise Jake with them once we got back from our honeymoon. I had them the entire time, I actually forgot about them."

Hotchner opened the envelope and pulled out the professional photos. There was the face of their latest victim. The first picture was just her smiling, the next a serious face. Then her outfit changed and a white dress replaced normal clothes. She wasn't focusing on the camera in this shot. She was looking upwards, reaching out to something just out of sight. Her hair was loose and it flowed around her perfectly.

A few more shots of her in similar scenes and then the attitude changed completely. The next photo revealed a devil's smirk and mismatched eyes just daring someone to try something…anything. A tight black top and a short black leather skirt completed the look. She had that look for the remaining few pictures. Picking out the one that best captured her face, the first smirking picture, Hotchner posted it on the bored, dead center. Somehow she was the key to this puzzle.

"These are perfect Mrs…" Hotchner actually stumbled, not having caught their names.

"Oh I'm sorry. I'm Lily and this is Jake. Last name is Haile." They all started when Reid gave a gasp of shock.

"Reid?" Gideon asked concerned about the look of shock etched on his prodigy's face.

"I know her…" They all turned sharply and stared at the young genius. "I met her when I was like twelve…she would have been four or five." Those dark brown eyes so full of knowledge couldn't move themselves away from the new picture on the board. That was not the face he remembered but it was close enough for his mind to make the connection. He couldn't help but trace the small string bracelet that still lay on his right wrist. He couldn't believe she was sixteen now…logically he knew she would grow up but the little girl's face that he remembered was somehow the only way he's ever been able to think of her…until now that was.

"And?" Gideon knew there was more. Something about this girl spooked Reid. The older man could see it.

"Oh there's nothing else. I'm just shocked to see her." A complete lie. It was accepted by everyone but Gideon. He knew better than to accept it. But he would play along.

Gideon refocused on the young business man and frowned. "She is your sister? The laws of genetics would put that at a very high improbability…"

"Oh well technically she's my half sister. We have different fathers. My father died when I was eight. He was a lifer in the military. Merci's father though…I don't know much about him besides what our mother told us. Apparently she had felt a connection with him but left as soon as she found out she was pregnant. She didn't want to take him away from his work with her being pregnant. I wasn't with her at the time, "a deep shuddering breath was taken as the memories filled distant eyes. "I was with my grandparents. Mom had been too depressed to properly take care of me. But she came back and I found out soon after that I was going to have a little sister. I was angry at first…but I soon got over that. Merci was too cute."

"So your mother just left the relationship because she of Merci?" Elle tipped her head to the side, frowning deeply at that implication.

"Oh no not because of Merci, but because she knew it was going to be a high risk pregnancy. She wasn't even supposed to be able to get pregnant again my birth had damaged her dramatically. She didn't want to drag down Merci's father with hospital visits and a sense or responsibility that as she said he was bound to feel. She didn't want him to have to choose between her and his job which he apparently lived for." The blond shrugged lightly.

"Merci was a preemie actually, three and a half months early. Weighing in at under a pound, none of the docs thought she would live. Mom and I knew differently. We could see her fighting. Mom would smile and say that's her father shining through. When we found out about her IQ she said the same thing. Her serious disposition, ability to read people, intimidate them if need be…" Laughing suddenly the blonde shook his head.

"Her favorite one to point out was how stubborn she is. All of those qualities she said belonged to her father. And honestly she had to be right because a number of things about Merci don't make sense unless you add in someone like how mom described. I don't know his name but I don't really care either."

"Her IQ?" Elle spoke again.

Turning his head Jake nodded and shrugged. "Mom had her tested when she was failing school and when the teachers sent home notes saying they were worried. Turns out she was failing because she was bored. Her IQ turned out to be at a very high level at the age of 6. If I remember her IQ at that time was 208. Yea it was 208. The researchers were shocked, wanted to study and observe her…mom said no of course."

"208?" Reid was amazed. This girl that he had spoken with was smarter than he was.

"Shocking isn't it? But I'm not sure how's she doing now. After all that man has had her locked up for years now. She reads a lot when she's at my place but I doubt she does anything over there…except be his punching bag. That man has put her through a lot. She doesn't speak anymore, she doesn't sing, she doesn't even really smile. It's always sad eyes or like the ones in those pictures…fake smiles. I wish I could tell you something that might help…"

"Giving up detailed information about your sister is a big help to us. It allows us to figure out why the kidnapper would want to take her and break from his pattern. Is there anything else you think is relevant?" Reid was trying to be practical but it was hard to sound mournful when his mind was based on the logical facts laid out before him.

"Hey Jake what about her sketch pad? Or that vial of blood that's hers? Your mother always said keep blood just in case…" Lily wrapped her arms around her husband's neck and squeezed. She knew how close Jake was to Merci. The girl was precious to him.

"Blood?" Gideon narrowed his eyes, his voice shaded by deep thoughts.

"Yea my mom said that Merci's father told her that even if it's a silly notion and never to be used, one should always have a form of intact DNA ready to hand over in case the worst comes to pass. I get a new vial of her blood every year. I don't know how long DNA keeps in blood when it's frozen so I get it drawn annually and throw out the last vial. It's in my freezer, next to mine and Lily's."

"Her sketch pad?" Hotchner leaned forward, now truly curious about what this sketch pad held.

"At my home as well. She wanted to keep it there so that jack ass wouldn't destroy it." Jake got up, the need to move over whelming him.

"We will need both of those as soon as you possibly can." Hotchner nodded at the tall man.

"Of course. I'll be back within ten minutes." Eyes met and respect drifted between then.

"Thank you." A nod was Hotch's sole response as the couple left hand in hand.

The team of profilers watched the worried couple go, the cops outside of the room staring unabashedly as well. "We have a limited amount of time and numerous new issues. Merci…our newest victim is bound to complicate this issue."

Gideon's voice was soft, his eyes far away and he looked like he was struggling to refocus. What he said was true though and the other agents saw this. A young girl with mental scars did change the dynamics.

"We just have to hope that she won't run away." Morgan sighed heavily.

"She won't." Reid stated.

"Why do you think that, kid?" Morgan's nickname for Reid twinged a nerve but not enough for him to do something about it.

"She didn't leave her stepfather's home when the abuse started even though she obvious knew she could. She seems to be the type to stay in situations until she is forced to change…" He really wanted to add his other reasoning but he didn't think the others would qualify it.

"Reid you're leaving something out." Gideon would not play fool twice…especially not within ten minutes of each attempt.

Biting his lip Reid worried it for a moment before sighing. "I met her on the way home from school. Her ball flew out from the bushes and bounced towards me. After being knocked in the head by it I held it and then she appeared. I gave her back her ball and she said my name, like she knew me and then asked me this very weird question. She asked me, 'When we're older will you promise to find and save me?' I haven't really though much about it but…now it's just really obvious how illogical her question was unless she knew this was going to happen. Which in and of itself is impossible." Leaving out the part about the bracelet Reid felt the need to keep that to himself above everything else.

The others stared at him just like he knew they would but he didn't budge. He wasn't lying nor was he being insane.

"Reid? You did just hear what you just said right? You just stated very calmly I might add that this girl knew all about her kidnapping a decade before it even happened. That's just not possible, man." Morgan was shell shocked and his words and tone proved it.

"Enough Morgan. I'm sure Reid knows the impracticability of what he just said, thus his hesitancy. But that does not exclude the fact that it happened." Gideon's instant belief in him made Reid sigh in relief. "Apparently this girl knows something about this. Whether it's through involvement or some other channel we must focus on finding her and the other women."

Nodding through now thoroughly shocked regained their composure. "Morgan, Elle, go out to this girl's home. See what you can find." The two agents nodded and left.

Reid stared at the bored, needing to make the connection, needing to find the answer that he knew was right there. What was it about these pale blonde women that enticed this unsub? Why did he change and kidnap Merci? Why the stark contrast? His mind swam as possible reasons came forward only to be dismissed by an outlying fact in the case.

"Special Agent Hotchner?" A familiar voice broke his concentration. There in the doorway stood Jake Haile. In his arms was a large sketch pad and a large carrying case. Tightly grasped within his right hand though was a vial. A vial filled with frozen blood.

Hotch stepped forward and took the items, thanking the man and sending him home. "I'm going to send out the blood right now. We need to find out everything about this girl." Gideon nodded even as Reid's focus went to the sketch pad.

Opening the pad up his eyes widened dramatically. The work that greeted him was an amazing picture. A wedding with smiles, laughter, love and everything else that should be at a wedding. Looking closer he recognized the couple that had just been in the office. This was their wedding. A number in the corner caught his attention. Blinking he made sure he was reading it right. The picture was dated…three years ago. But the man had just claimed to just coming back from his honeymoon.

"Gideon…Look at these…" His voice shook as he flipped the page. His mentor was now next to him looking over the drawings, shock radiating in his eyes.

"That's us…She drew us looking through her sketchpad" Reid checked the corner for the date. "She drew this four years ago…Gideon how…"

"I don't know Reid." His voice deep Gideon took the pictures out of the pad and began laying them across the long table.

There were pictures of fields, animals, children and just random objects. But most of the pictures…were of crime scenes that a girl as secluded as Merci was couldn't possibly know about.

Gideon and Reid could identify many cases that actually involved them, their faces popping up numerous times. The drawing that took both of their breaths away was one that was dated back nearly eleven years.

There was a large forest garden. The trees were meticulously detailed, no flower was left vague but the area that showed the most detail was the very center of the picture. There were eight young women; light hair covered them all…except that in the middle of that fair haired group was a ninth female. This one was younger than the rest and had obviously dark hair. Her eyes were filled with sadness and her mouth was closed softly in a natural pout. She was in a loose white gown with flowers accenting the innocence attempting to be achieved by being twined in her long hair.

The older blonde women were circled around her and there were pools of liquid that had to be blood under them. All the eyes of those women were dead; there was nothing but coldness in those faces. They seemed to have similar dresses on but it was easy to see that the dark haired girl's dress was the most ornate.

A shadow was off to the distance, and a figure was attached to that shadow. Soft eyes and a pleading face attempted to hide the inner demon but the artist had captured both as those eyes were locked on the dark haired girl. A hand from that figure was placed on its own parted mouth almost as if it was begging for a sound, a word, a song.

"Angels…"Gideon's voice broke through the reverie that had encased the two profilers.

"Huh?" Reid's mind took an unusually long time to refocus and thus he didn't follow his mentor's train of though.

"This unsub…he sees these women as angels of heaven. The blonde ones are lesser angels, only there to serve the high angel…in this case Merci. There is a belief that on new moons hell opens its gates and allows daemons to escape but if the high angel of heaven sings her song at the stroke of midnight then that gate will be closed for another month. The price she pays though is that her strength leaves her and needs to be replaced by eight of her underlings giving their lives and their abilities to her as a sacrifice.

He's going to kill all the blonde ones in three days…and when Merci doesn't sing he will kill her as well. That is why he killed the first and third victim. He saw their running away as proof that they were daemons in disguise trying to tell the devil his plans… This fantasy is why there is nothing sexual about this guy, nor is he power hungry… We need to call together everyone. I'm pretty sure we can give a profile and see who fits it."

"But Gideon everything you just said is based off of a drawing done eleven years ago by a five year old girl…" Gideon's sharp eyes stopped Reid's opposition instantly.

"You are questioning her now even though you believe in what she asked of you, eleven years ago?" Reid knew the question had merit…but he was still concerned. Using this as the basis of their profile would mean that Gideon was backing Psychic abilities of all kinds.

"What if these are nothing more than drawings?" Eyes downcast Reid voiced his fears.

"Do you really think that they are?" Those eyes compelled the truth out of the younger agent.

"No." The older man gave a small smile.

"I'm not saying I believe in this. But the evidence is here. Merci has left us clues to help find her. I think she would be disappointed if we didn't use them." That simple answer was all Reid needed. He had promised the girl long ago that he would find her…

Nodding at his mentor Reid reached for his phone, instantly calling Morgan. He didn't explain to the fullest about the break in the case. He knew Morgan wouldn't take it nicely.

"Everyone is on their way back." Jason Gideon was still standing over the drawing that led them to their answers.

"Good" Reid joined his mentor, committing to memory every little detail about the picture he couldn't help but dubbed 'Angels Cry'.

A/N: R&R please. Thankies.