The team was silent on the plane ride home, trying to catch up on sleep they knew they'd be missing for this next case and contemplating this new case to themselves. They knew well of The Replicator, their stalker trying to prove his superiority over them, controlling them. The only thing they didn't know is what he had done this time. In the past he had reopened their closed case files and replicated the murders, but kidnapping seven teenagers and signing his own signature at the locations- that was new.
The plane landed and the agents disembarked into two large black SUV's. Morgan drove Reid and Blake, while Hotch drove Rossi and JJ back to the FBI building. Whatever was at the end of this tense car ride gave the professional agents a small grain of apprehension- The Replicator had taunted and out foxed them before, what could he want now?
The team arrived at the bureau around eleven o'clock at night and went up to their floor, no one was there except Strauss and Garcia, both with blank faces and greetings to the newly returned BAU.
"What's going on and why can't this case wait until morning?" Hotch asked Strauss.
"The Replicator, we believe, has hit again." Strauss stated. Nodding to Garcia, Garcia pulled out seven files. "The conference room is all set up with the information."
"I still don't see.." Blake began.
"You will see." replied Strauss.
The group made their way to the conference room where Garcia, instead of her usual peppy mood, sometimes even at eleven o'clock, was grim faced and full of thought. She handed each profiler a specific file before sitting down with one herself.
"Each of the files in front of you pertains to a missing teenager." Strauss began. "They were taken from various places at various times within various states in the upper east coast. At first there was nothing to connect the disappearances, until this packet was mailed to the BAU today." She said, holding up and evidence bag, inside was a manila envelope. "It made it through security, and was addressed to me. In it were seven envelopes addressed to the seven of you. Since Garcia was here, we opened hers and found these." Strauss held up three photos, one of a teenager, one of Garcia, and one of part of a forearm which had 'zugzwang' cut into it.
The team was shocked.
"What do those photos mean?", asked JJ.
Strauss continued, "Seeing what was in Garcia's envelope, we quickly opened the others to find the same things: a picture of the missing teen, what we believe to be their arm carved with 'zugzwang', and a picture of each of you with it. I had Garcia do face match and pull up the files of the teens in the pictures to find that they actually are the missing teens. In looking through their files we believe that the picture pairings were specifically targeted to each of you. We believe The Replicator is behind these kidnappings, and has geared his targets to each of you. We don't know what he wants, and do to our past history with this unsub, we need to act fast to save these kids' lives. Look through the files to see if anything jumps out at you."
The team slowly opened the files in front of them, pondering this new direction the unsub had taken.
Aaron Hotchner opened the file in front of him. Marcus Kalser- 19, student at Boston University, studying pre-law, excellent student, and also active in theater. The senior picture of him showed a serious, but caring boy with dark brown hair.
David Rossi opened his file to find Grant Florent, a 19 year old student at NYU studying writing, whose parents immigrated from Italy, and who enjoys hunting, as was evident from the picture of Grant in his hunting gear. The brown eyes to match the brown hair of the boy were trademark Italian traits as well as his olive skin tone.
Jennifer Jareau opened the her file to see a smiling young girl with bright blond hair and blue eyes staring at her. Melissa Barron, JJ read, 18 year old senior at Providence High School in Rhode Island, captain of her varsity soccer team, and editor of the school newspaper. The Barron's seemed like a well rounded, typical family- minus Melissa's older sister, who struggled with depression and had dropped out of college, upsetting their family life.
Alex Blake saw a picture of Ellen Casey, a 18 year old freshman in college at Georgetown, studying education with top grades. It also said Ellen is fluent in three languages as well as American Sign Language for her deaf brother. The brown haired girl's smile in the picture hid the tension and reserved nature her blue eyes showed.
Derek Morgan opened his file to see Larson Drews, an 18 senior at Bradford High in Pennsylvania. He is captain of the football team and had scholarships coming in from many colleges for that. Derek got a funny feeling when he read the family side of the file on the black teen. Larson's father, a cop had been killed when Larson was eleven, and he became the head of the household for his mother and three sisters.
Penelope Garcia already knew what was in her file. A 19 year old Carter Collin, whose name shared a list of powerful hackers with Garcia herself. Carter was enrolled in several online college courses, and an avid computer gamer. The family part of the file seemed eerily familiar to Penelope as well- Carter's parents had been killed in a car accident just that last year.
Spencer Reid read his file in a matter of seconds, and read it again, not really believing what he read the first time: Kayla Lauren, a 16 year old doctorate student at MIT studying psychology, with an measured IQ of 186. Her mother left her father when Kayla was 8, leaving Kayla with her father, who has reports of mental instability. Her picture was her student ID, her brown eyes matching her carmel brown hair as she smiled up at him.
Spencer looked around at his team mates, all wearing the same confused and astonished expression he knew he wore, except Garcia, who just nodded to his unspoken question. The team looked to Strauss and she spoke, "I think you all can come to the conclusion that the unsub wants you, but has settled for something close enough."
Review please! Tell me if I got something wrong! Blake doesn't have a back story, so I'm going to give her one. I changed some stuff on purpose! Next chapter next week!