Disclaimer: see my profile

A/n hey all... Here's the next chapter. Please enjoy and thank you all for your kind support. And thanks to my beta Reidfanatic for her support and for her wonderful ideas.

The Profile

Reid looked around at the expectant faces around the table all looking at him. You've been a profiler for over six years. You can handle this one on your own for a while.

"So…" He began with a squeak. Oh yeah, that will inspire a lot of confidence.

He tried again, "Normally, the BAU deals with unknown subjects or un-subs, but since we have two reliable sources that have identified Shane Casey as the man who kidnapped their daughter, the profile becomes very specific."

"How do you mean?" The one called Hawkes asked.

"Usually," Reid continued, feeling the butterflies in his stomach recede a bit. "We go into an investigation 'blind,' as it were. We don't look at lists of suspects and try to force them into the mold of the profile. Instead, we use years of precedence and case studies to build the profile to the crime. Profiles are only as good as the evidence we have to form them. The difference here is that we know who committed the crime. We'll have to reverse profile Casey to figure out his next move."

"Don't take this the wrong way, but how are we supposed to do that?" Stella asked.

"We look at his behavior since his stressor made him kill the first time. I've been going over the evidence you've collected since the first murder. It tells me a lot about his personality and thought processes.

"We know he's very smart and creative." Mac said.

"Yes… He has above average intelligence. Garcia…" He turned to the tech that had her lap top open on the table.

"Shane Casey was born and grew up here in NYC," She began. "He had one brother as you know. His parents are deceased. He was a student until the murders began. He studied semiotics and mythology."

"We know all of that." Adam said.

"Yes you do, we'll use it against him to get ahead of him." Reid said.

"How do we do that?" Stella asked. "He's always been one step ahead of us. He taunts us at every turn with bizarre clues and dead bodies. Now he has the child of one of my closest friends." She began to shout now.

"Stella," Mac put a hand on her arm. "We're all upset."

"We can't just sit around here and wait for something to happen while a profiler, who looks like a college kid, fills us in on everything we already know. Where's the new information?" She directed her wrath at Reid.

"Stella…" Mac said again. "Don't take this out on Dr. Reid."

"It's okay Detective Taylor," Reid said. "I'm used to the doubts. I will tell you what I know about Shane Casey. He began as what we call a mission based killer. He wanted to do away with everyone that had anything to do with the people he saw as responsible for framing his brother. Then, you found the evidence that convinced him of his brother's guilt, or more specifically, Detective Messer found the evidence. Now Casey has become a sadist. He enjoys the kill. He wants to punish Detective Messer for taking away his ignorance about his brother. If he didn't have the detective to focus on, he wouldn't have a purpose in life."

"So, you're saying we take detective Messer out of the picture." Hawkes said.

"How can we do that?" Stella asked. "He won't be kept out of this investigation. I can't blame him or Lindsey for wanting to be involved."

"Calm down Stella and let the man finish." Mac ordered.

"I can't make a definite decision until Hotch finishes interviewing the detectives. If they can give us more insight into that night, we can come up with a plan to force Shane Casey to reveal himself before he's ready. I believe a huge part of that is to take Danny Messer out of the equation. Then we bring him back when it's time to take Casey down. He deserves to have the arrest."

The room was very quiet for a long time until Stella said. "Okay… I like the plan." She smiled at Reid who felt relief course through his body at her eyes. "So, tell me Dr. Reid, just what kind of doctor are you."

"I'm not a medical doctor. I have doctorates in Chemistry, Engineering and Mathematics, BA's in Psychology and Sociology and, I'm presently working on a BA in Philosophy."

They all stared at him until Hawkes said. "Are you some kind of genius?"

For the first time in his life, Reid didn't feel the impatience at that question because Hawkes didn't say it with derision in his voice. "Um… Yeah, I guess that's the classification everyone puts me in although I don't think that intelligence can be quantified."

Mac was the first to smile. Adam laughed aloud then went pink in the face when Hawkes smacked his arm. It didn't matter because in the last years, Reid had learned to recognize when the laughter was directed at him or with him.

"It's okay… I'm the youngest person ever hired by the BAU." Reid said with some embarrassment.

"I'm glad you're here." Mac said, "We don't care about age around here, just talent and hard work."

Mac's phone buzzed. He spoke to the other person for several minutes as the happy smiled left his face. He put down his phone and addressed all of them. "We have a DB that needs all of our attention."

00000000000000

Hotch followed Detective Messer down the empty and surprisingly quiet hallway in the apartment building.

"I'm sure this isn't as nice as your home in DC." Danny said sarcastically as he took his keys out of his jeans pocket.

"Actually, I live in a small apartment with my son." Hotch said.

Danny looked back over his shoulder with blue eyes that clearly said he didn't believe the agent. He went back to unlocking the door and calling through it to his wife. "Linds, there's an FBI profiler here to see us." He slumped down into his favorite armchair, ignoring the agent.

A young woman with short brown hair and dark brown eyes came out of the bedroom and into the living room. Hotch took in her red-rimmed eyes and the ragged tee shirt she wore with an old pair of faded jeans and held out his hand. "I'm Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner. My team and I are here to help you find your daughter."

Danny harrumphed from his chair. "We don't need the feds here. We can handle it without you."

"Danny," Lindsey snapped. "Stop it and cooperate with him. He's just here to help us."

Danny turned in his chair. "You feds like to horn in on investigations and take all the credit for yourselves. My daughter isn't a statistic to add to your perfect average." He spat.

"She's our daughter," Lindsey shouted, beginning to cry again. "I'll take all the help we can get. We need them."

Danny jumped back up from his chair. "How can he help us? He doesn't know what we're goin through."

"I don't know what you're going though Danny. You won't talk to me." She shouted back.

"I don't wanna talk about this in fronna him." Danny pointed at Hotch. "He has no idea what parents go through. He just studies the killers. How can he help when he's never been on the other side?"

"I have been on the other side." Hotch said as he sat down on the couch.

Danny and Lindsey just stared at him. Lindsey wiped her eyes and went to the couch. "What do you mean?"

"Yeah… what happened to you that could compare what we're goin through?" Danny cajoled.

"My family was threatened once by a serial killer. I know what it's like to be on the receiving end of someone that wants to torture you for their own sick pleasure."

"What happened?" Lindsey asked.

"A serial killer we chased, escaped and forced me to send my ex-wife and son into hiding with the witness protection program."

Danny had returned to his chair, but he didn't seem to be so upset anymore. He looked interested in Hotch for the first time.

"So, how did it end," Lindsey asked softly.

"I think we should talk about you. Tell me about that night ten days ago." Hotch changed the subject, a little irritated that he'd let his personal life out into the open this way.

"We got home early that night and had put Lucy in bed." Danny began hoarsely. "Lindsey and I went to our bedroom to get some sleep. We talked for a while and then went to sleep. It was about two in the morning I think when Lucy woke me up screamin. I thought I was havin a dream when I got to her room and saw him standin there with her in his arms and a gun in his hand. Then I realized that it was real, that he had my baby girl in his arms." Danny's voice began to crack badly.

Lindsey went to his chair and sat in his lap. He held tight to her while Hotch just waited for the storm to pass. He took in the toys in the box next to the window. The pictures on the walls and the way the sunlight played over the coffee table in front of the couch. A newspaper lay open on the coffee table was though someone had been reading it when they came into the room.

"I'm sorry," Danny said. "I don't know what else to say except that he just laughed at me while my little girl cried. She was so scared and then he shot me. He left the room while I just lay there and didn't try to stop him." He cried. "How could I do that? How could I just lie there and not try? I should've done everythin I could."

"Danny," Lindsey hugged him tight. "You were lucky he didn't kill you. How could you have stopped him?"

"It wasn't luck." Hotch said. "Casey wanted you both alive to suffer. Don't give him the satisfaction and he will surface."

Lindsey and Danny looked at him as if he was nuts. "How do you expect me to just go on as if life is okay?" Danny shouted.

"Because you have a daughter out there that needs you. You said you'd do anything to find Lucy."

"We will," Lindsey said. "Just tell us what to do."

"First, I want to look at her room, if that's okay."

Danny nodded wiping furiously at the tears falling down his cheeks. "Babe… Show him her room, please," Danny asked his wife.

She kissed him briefly and left his lap. "I love you Danny." She whispered.

"Me too," He kissed her again and squeezed her hand.

Lindsey left the room… leading Hotch into Lucy's little room. She'd washed the Strawberry Shortcake sheets that morning and had just replaced them in Lucy's crib. Everything else had been left in the same place as it had been ten days ago, including her favorite toy lying on the floor next to the crib.

"Alright…" She turned to Hotch and confronted him coldly. "I don't like it when people don't answer my questions. Tell me what happened to your family. I need to know if I have to prepare myself and my husband for the worst."