It was about a week later that Aaron returned to the BAU. He put on a good show, acting like he was okay, but… It was clearly just an act. If the team thought he didn't smile before, now it was he didn't even know what a smile was. In fact, the only one he was even remotely normal around was Emily, and that was saying something. Still, no matter how badly he was hurting, he came back nonetheless. Today was a particularly nasty case in Brooklyn, New York. It was a serial murder, with post mortem stabbings varying in length, size and number, evidence of rape and, probably the worst part, all of the victims had their eyes removed. What did he do with the eyes? Well, there were six victims, and victim six had victim five's eyes in her stomach, so you can imagine what exactly he did. Oh, and to top it all off? These victims were all girls, with long, dark hair and all around fifteen years old. It was messy, gory, gruesome and a brutal case for Aaron to come back to.

Everyone knew it, but only Emily said anything about it. She walked up to him, eyes level, yet slightly concerned. "Hotch, are you sure you're ready to come back? No one would look down on you for sitting out this one." She said quietly, putting a hand on his shoulder. She wasn't aware of the eyes on her. Namely, Spencer, Derek, and J.J

Aaron removed her hand gently, but his eyes were as stern and stoic as his voice was. "Prentiss, if I put this one off, then what? Suppose I think the next case is too gruesome, too? And the next one, and the next." He said, before giving her a small smile, to reassure her, "I'll be fine, Agent Prentiss. The team needs me, and I need this. I need to see if I can still do my job."

Emily could understand. Or at least, she thought she did. Aaron could be confusing, so whether or not she truly understood was up for debate.

Emily nodded and looked back at the victim board. Something was bothering her, nagging her. Aaron watched her curiously while J.J walked up to her. "Something wrong, Prentiss?" J.J asked her. The brunette seemed focused on something. The eyes in particular.

"I don't think this is his first time killing, although it shows that he hasn't been going at it long. His stab wounds, see? Some are long, some are more like puncture wounds. Some are thicker, some are thinner. They vary in number and arrangement… plus, most of them are superficial."

J.J frowned. Emily had more to say, she knew that. "Is there more than that?"

"Well, why are there such variations? But that's not what's really bothering me. Look at these two victims." She pointed at Haley Jones and Elizabeth Courneya. "These two look as if their eyes were ripped out. See the optic nerves? While the rest of them are clean and precise. But Elizabeth Courneya's is more precise than Haley Jones', which tells me he figured out a relatively cleaner method to remove the eyes. But I think it would take more than two girls to know how to rip out the eyes correctly. It would take precision."

"Surgeon or Taxidermist?" Derek offered.

"No. The killer is disorganized, true to most of this particular kind. The Enucleator." Aaron said, coming closer.

"Plus, if it were a surgeon the stabs would be eater and there wouldn't be a need to stab, really, at all for a taxidermist. No, there's more to this than that. We're missing something." Emily added. She was visibly sickened by the thought of more murders like this, and as much as it bothered him too, and as impressed as he was with her, there was something off about Emily. A long time ago, when Spencer had been kidnapped by Hankel, she had said that she compartmentalized better than most people, and it seemed to be true for the most part, aside from the cases involving children, which seemed to bother her immensely. Although she hid it well, it was clear to him how much it bothered her when children were involved in any way. And while, yes, the victims in this case were children, she seemed more on edge. Paranoid, even.

Derek speed dialed Penelope with a grimace, bringing Aaron back to the present. "Hey baby doll, I've got something nasty for you."

Spencer gave him a little frown. Sure, he didn't mind the flirting, but this was pushing it a little. Emily couldn't help but chuckle, and that sound relaxed Aaron and his worries about Emily. For now.

Since Penelope was on speaker phone (although she probably didn't know it), they all heard her response of, "nasty, hmm? Well, come on my chocolate god. Talk dirty to me."

"Sadly, it's not that kind of nasty." He chuckled, earning a kitten-glower from Spencer.

"Oh, you tease," she said playfully, "so what do you need, hot stuff?"

"I need you to go back into New York's police records. Look for unusual murders, pertaining to eyes, and anything else involved in teen rapings."

"Oh dear, that is nasty. Worry not, my lovely, I shall have it to you in a jiffy. Kisses!"

"Keep us posted, Garcia." Derek said before hanging up to see the glowering kitten that was Spencer Reid.

"Jealous?" J.J giggled, causing Spencer to blush.

"So, anyone have any ideas why he wants the eyes? And why is he feeding them to the victims?" David asked.

"Hmm… it's thought that the eyes are the windows to your soul."

"That explains why your eyes are so beautiful." Derek murmured before kissing his husband softly, making him blush more.

"Awww…" J.J giggled, and Emily allowed herself a small smile. She shook her head lightly. She was alone, like usual…

"But why take them out? To remove the soul?" David asked, thinking.

While the thoughts were running through her head, she started to play with her Nazar. A Nazar being a necklace with a charm made to look like an eye to ward off the…

Emily froze, eyes wide. "The evil eye." She said, voice barely above a whisper.

"The evil eye?" Derek repeated louder, dubious. David's own eyes widened in shock and surprise. Of course.

Spencer jumped to his feet, knocking over his chair in the process. "It would make sense! The evil eye is an ancient belief, originating in Greece before migrating to Rome, that if a given person looks at someone wrongly, it will cause the victim to suffer injury or bad luck. A curse, if you will. It could be part of a ritual; if he takes the eyes out of the victim it would take away their ability to curse him. It gives him power, which is what he wants. Then by feeding them to his next victim, they take on all the injury or bad luck of the previous owner, thus, in his mind, relieving him of his own curses."

The team stared at Spencer, and Emily chuckled in amusement. "Do you know everything, Reid? Really?" She laughed.

Just then, Derek's cell rang. "You're on speaker. Tell me you got something, sweet cheeks."

"Depends on what you what you need. If you want icky, then yep. I got icky."

"Behave, Garcia." He chuckled.

"Or what, you'll spank me? Save that for our pretty boy."

Spencer's cheeks went a deep crimson and Emily bit her lip to keep from laughing. Especially with Derek's response of, "Okay, I will," which made him go redder, somehow.

"So anyways, I have icky. Lots of it Do you have any idea how many unusual teen rape-murder cases there here in NY? A lot, I found out. You don't even WANT to know how the walking cane, orange and cellphone were involved…" An audible shudder, "over the past three months, there were two cases of attempted rape on victims similar to our Unsub's preference in Manhatten, and two other of murder, with one ripped out eye each. Nazars drawn near the body. The other two girls were Jenna and Alice Dubont, in Manhatten, and the first murder was Emma Romano, fifteen. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need pictures of cute and cuddly kittens. Garcia, out!"

There was a brief pause before David said, "well, I think we're ready for the profile."

A/N:

Sorry this took so long, really. I had to rewrite this, because the first one had Aaron and Emily too touchy-feel-y. They were too affectionate, which wouldn't happen at work. Not only that, but after rewatching Demonlogy and Eyes Have It, my information was quite inaccurate. So, that's why I haven't updated. Not only that, but I'm getting ready to move across Canada (Ontario to BC!) and so I've been getting less internet time and blah blah blah I could post many other excuses.

Now here's something fun! I have a little contest for you!

Make a musical setlist for the important scenes in your favourite CM fanfic by me, then PM the list of songs and artist to me. I'll make a poll on my profile and the setlist with the most votes will get to choose what CM fic I write next. (Basically, you give me a prompt and a pairing)

I will write almost any pairing, but I prefer to write Morgan/Reid and Prentiss/Hotch. I will also easily write Garcia/Morgan, Prentiss/Morgan and J.J/Reid, but like I said, I prefer M/R and H/P.

Ciao~

LunaNyx14