In the FBI there are always stories with the new recruits about the departments they might join. Stories of great teams, or teams that had made horrible mistakes. Stories of some horrific Unsubs, or hilarious incidents. Those kinds of stories spread through the academy with each new batch of recruits that came there. The older ones, or even the teachers, told the stories about teams that had done amazing things, who had saved countless lives. They told stories about the risks that were taken and whispered quietly together about those that had been damaged by the job, left unable to work, unable to do anything. And even quieter than that, they whispered about the ones who had broken, those who had cracked under pressure.
But there was one story that quite a few of the students liked to tell, and very few agents would ever speak of. A story that they could get no one to confirm or deny.
Yet still, every student seemed to know it by the time they left the Academy.
At one point or another, everyone heard about the team of profilers, once considered the 'best of the best'. A group of elite profilers who had a higher solve rate than anyone else in the BAU—in almost any department, really. Derek Morgan, Emily Prentiss, Jennifer Jareau, Spencer Reid, David Rossi—all led by Aaron Hotchner. They were 'the' team. The absolute best; the ones that so many profilers aspired to be like. The team that always, always came out ahead.
Until five years ago.
Five years ago there was a case. That part was public knowledge. All anyone had to do was look and they could find the details of the case about an Unsub who had wanted to challenge a team that was lauded as being 'the best'. Who felt that he was the best in his own craft and therefor wanted to pit himself against those he saw as 'worthy adversaries'. The case file spoke plainly about how he started his game with the simple sending of a box to the BAU. A box filled with clues, little scraps of code and pictures of victims, things to entice the team into play a game that was almost reminiscent of their Fisher King case. In that case file, it told the details of each clue and the information that the team had gathered about each little piece of evidence.
It told of the little slip of paper they got just a week later. A photocopy of that piece of evidence was in the file as well. It showed a simple piece of white construction paper upon which the words 'Let the Games Begin' was written in old fashioned calligraphy. Attached to that photo copy was a printout that showed the analysis for the note; simple construction paper and basic ink, found at almost any stationary store.
If you read further on—and many new agents had, the pages almost worn in some places from the amount of time the file had been perused—the file would show how the Unsub had engaged each member of the team, taunting them, threatening them. There were photo copies of more notes, copies of recordings that had been left for them.
And then, the most read part of the entire file, and the one part that had the least amount of detail. This was the part that no one knew the exact story for.
There were a few details that were accepted as true. A trap had been laid for the BAU team. Even if they hadn't recognized it, that'd been exactly what it was—a trap. A call had been phoned in at eight forty seven p.m. on Thursday, November 1st. The home of Jennifer Jareau had been broken into and her partner, William LaMontagne and their son, Henry, were missing. A clue which consisted of a code and some photos had been left behind as a 'map' to the location of the two, as well as a warning to come without SWAT, or the two would be killed.
By ten twenty two p.m. that same night, the BAU team headed out to an old house on 871 Prospect Street in Richmond, Virginia. SWAT did not go with them, but were kept on standby.
But it's after that where the files become uncertain. Where bits of information are either only halfway there, or missing entirely. Some things that happened next were facts, but much of it was supposition.
It was a fact that there was an explosion at the house when the team arrived. It was also fact that at some point during the night, at around eleven fifty one p.m., there was an explosion in the house.
By the time SWAT and the fire department arrived on scene, the BAU team as well as their two missing family members were all out on the lawn. The fire to the house was quickly put out while their survivors were all rushed to the hospital for a multitude of injuries. A list of said injuries was kept inside the file as well. Every agent who saw them couldn't help but cringe. From smallest to largest, all injuries were catalogued. Henry and Will LaMontagne had been the least injured of the group. Only the father had showed any real signs of injuries, suffering a concussion from an obvious blow to the head. Otherwise, they were simply marked on their wrists from being bound.
Jennifer Jareau suffered multiple lacerations and contusions consistent with an explosion. Her right leg was broken in two places and she suffered three broken ribs and a broken right arm.
David Rossi suffered multiple contusions, a rather severe concussion, four broken ribs, and minor burns to his left arm and leg.
Derek Morgan suffered a severe blow to the head that damaged the hearing in his right ear which would later leave him fully deaf on that side. He also suffered contusions and lacerations from being blown clear by the blast, as well as a fractured knee which required three surgeries to repair. There were obvious signs of torture.
Aaron Hotchner suffered multiple lacerations, contusions and burns as well as a gunshot to the shoulder that took two surgeries to repair damage to
The last two of the team were the ones that showed the most injuries. They were the ones that showed the most obvious signs of torture.
Spencer Reid suffered multiple lacerations and contusions that were from the explosion, but that were also believed to have come from torture, as well as rather severe breaks to both legs and his right hip. His collarbone, his right arm, his left wrist, four fingers, and three ribs were all broken. For his first two weeks in the hospital, he was in a coma. He was also severely burned over his back and down over one hip from where he had tried to shelter someone during the blast.
Emily Prentiss suffered the same type of lacerations and contusions as Spencer, both from the explosion and from torture. She also suffered breaks—in her left leg, left ankle, the toes on her right foot, the fingers on both hands, and two ribs. She suffered mild burns to her right leg and hand. It was noted in the file that she was the one that Dr. Reid had tried to protect from the blast. She was also in a coma when she arrived at the hospital. She didn't wake for almost a month.
The injuries that the team suffered were horrific and severely damaging. No one knew the true story as to what happened during that hour that the team was inside the house. No one had any answer as to why the SWAT team hadn't tried to go in any earlier. Why had they let the BAU team stay alone in there for so long? Why hadn't they gone in and acted as backup? Those questions were asked countless times, not just when the case happened but by every agent who ever pulled the file to read it.
Whatever happened, the damage done that night was immense, and it was something the team never recovered from. Within a month, the team had been disbanded, each one turning in their resignation for various reasons. Jennifer Jareau chose to be with her family. The terror of almost having lost them to some psycho stuck with her and she couldn't bring herself to put her family at risk like that again. They moved back to Will's hometown of New Orleans and raised their family there. Two years after the incident, JJ gave birth to another baby boy, this one named Asher.
Derek Morgan retired as an agent, but was accepted at the Academy as an instruction. Though he never regained his hearing, and his knee pained him on a cold day, he was still considered a top agent and his experience was invaluable in training new recruits. He worked, he found himself a steady girlfriend—his physical therapist from the hospital—and slowly he healed.
David Rossi retired once more, citing that this was a young man's game. He went back to his home and to writing his books.
Aaron Hotchner accepted the retirement that Strauss had offered him so many times. He stayed at home with his son and, after two and a half years, he met someone new. A woman by the name of Marilyn Awner. Within a year the two were married. Aaron eventually took up part time work with Derek at the Academy, training new recruits in the use of Profiling.
Emily Prentiss disappeared after her release from the hospital. Word was that she ended up running Interpol's London office.
She wasn't the only one to vanish. Dr. Spencer Reid disappeared off the radar for over a year. He resurfaced again in New York, at NYU. He was teaching a course called 'Psychology of Criminal Behavior'.
Whatever had happened in that house that night, it had broken the BAU team. They'd fractured and splintered into small pieces that then drifted away. They were whispered about, their story told from person to person, each one wondering. What had happened that night? And what happened to their Unsub?
No one knew the question to either. Whatever happened that night wasn't written in those files. As for the Unsub, he vanished after that night. There were no more messages, no calls, no letters, nothing. Just a bouquet of flowers delivered to each agent in their hospital room. Beyond that, they heard nothing from him. Not for five whole years.
It was on that anniversary that a package was delivered to each member of that BAU team. Packages that would bring to life a nightmare those six BAU agents had been trying to forget for five, long years. Packages that would start the horror all over again.
This is just a sort of start to see how interested some of y'all might be. If you like it or are interested, let me know! This could be the next one I do once I finish a current story!