Disclaimer: Criminal Minds and all its characters belong to CBS. I own nothing. Feel free to read and review, but please don't copy.
AN- I'm so sorry about the long wait. Between work, family, and illness I just haven't had the time to write.
Kudos to the readers who knew the games John thought of were inspired by the shows Seaquest DSV and V!
Previously on Criminal Minds- The little profiler made it all the way to the door before skidding to a stop at JJ's voice calling, "We've got a case."
CM
A grim faced JJ watched her friends file into the conference room. While she knew the profilers would be thrilled to be taking on a case, she was worried about how it was going to work. Seeing Spencer climb into his chair and sit up on his knees so he could see over the table, she frowned. The director had reaffirmed his stance on Reid not going on cases just last night. She wondered how the youngster would handle being left behind. And for that matter how the team would deal with leaving him. JJ sighed. She guessed she'd find out so enough. Getting a nod from Hotch, the media liaison picked up her papers and the remote and began her spiel. "In the past two months four women have gone missing from the small town of Platterville, Wisconsin. The first two were drifters known only as Patsy and Carol."
"Drifters?" Morgan repeated. "If they're drifters, how do the police know the women are actually missing? They could have just moved on to the next town."
JJ nodded. "That's what the Sheriff assumed. But then the local bar owner, a Mary Hope, turned up missing a couple of weeks later." she replied. Pressing a button on the remote, she pulled up a picture of a tough looking older woman. "Mrs. Hope was last seen closing her bar December 12th. Police were called in the next evening when she failed to open. After a thorough search of the bar and her home turned up no trace of the victim or foul play, the police assumed she had either been called away by a relative or decided to leave for some reason or another."
"Wait, the police equated not finding anything with her leaving voluntarily?" Prentiss questioned. "What kind of crap is that? Did they even bother to investigate any further? Maybe call a relative or talk to neighbors?"
"Afraid not" JJ answered. "They seem to have concluded that she left of her own free will. They closed the investigation and didn't think any more of it until the hardware store owner, a Mrs. Bea Warthen, disappeared this morning. Customers alerted the police when they found the store open but unmanned. Police searching the store noticed a few spots of blood behind the counter. Nothing else was discovered but apparently the blood evidence was enough to get the cops' interest. Once they started looking into it, they began to question the other disappearances as well. And that's when they decided they needed to call for help."
"So, we have possibly four woman missing, pretty much no evidence, and a less than stellar police force" Rossi summed up.
"Sounds like it" Morgan huffed.
Hotch sighed. "Wheels up in an hour" he announced before turning to his littlest profiler. "Reid, the director is allowing you to go on the case on the condition that you stay in either the police station or the hotel with Garcia."
Spencer grinned from ear to ear. "Yes siw!" he eagerly agreed. Spinning his chair around, he jumped down and raced towards the door.
"Better pack your long johns youngster!" Morgan called after the excited boy. "Wisconsin's sure to be freezing!" He chuckled at the one fingered salute Reid sent his way. "Cute kid!"
"Morgan, take Spencer to eat at that chicken restaurant. He needs to run off some of that excess energy before he boards the plane." Hotch instructed.
"I'll do it." Dave volunteered as he stood.
"You sure Rossi?" Derek asked.
"Yes" Dave answered. "I'm already packed and ready. Go ahead and take care of whatever you need to. The kid and I will be fine." The senior profiler strode to the doorway and then looked back at the others. "Oh, and Aaron. Make sure you pack the heaviest clothes Spencer has. I don't want him getting sick right before Christmas."
The corners of Hotch's mouth twitched up. "I will grandpa." He teased, letting out a laugh when Rossi copied Spencer's earlier action before walking out of the room.
Chortling, Morgan picked up his file and made his way to the door. "Better watch your back man. Rossi's almost as good a prankster as I am." He told his boss.
Aaron smiled. "Dave knows better than to try and pull one over on me." He said as he walked over to the younger man. "Besides, we're headed out on a case. He wouldn't dare attempt a prank while we're working."
"Uh huh, right" Derek scoffed. "I'll remind you of that after he gets ya."
Rolling his eyes, Hotch popped Morgan on the back of his head with the file in his hands. "Go on! Get outta here before I decide to do a little pranking of my own."
"You wouldn't!" Morgan tossed back, eyes widening at the evil glint in his friend's eyes. "I'm, uhh, I've gotta go!"
Aaron smirked as he watched the muscular man practically sprint out of the room and down the catwalk. Shaking his head at the man's antics, the profiler started for his office. He had some shopping to do before they left for Wisconsin.
CM
After takeoff, the team, including a half awake Reid, gathered around to discuss their latest case.
"Alright, what do we know so far?" Hotch inquired as he pulled out his case file. Opening the manila folder, he jumped, letting out a horror movie worthy scream, as something small, grey, and furry leapt out at him.
The whole group burst out laughing at their unflappable leader's reaction to the toy mouse.
"I, I told you it w-w-would wowt!" Spencer crowed amidst giggles.
Holding the mouse's tail between his thumb and first finger, Aaron stared incredulously at his youngest. "Spencer? You did this?"
"No, I did." Rossi corrected. "Spencer merely helped."
"Good one, Rossi!" Morgan cackled, high fiving the oldest and youngest members of the team.
"Yeah, good one" Prentiss seconded. "Just one question though; how did you get it to fly out like that?"
"And how did you manage to make it lay flat and not fall out when he picked it up?" Garcia asked.
"It's a spring loaded mouse. It's made to stay flat until someone sets it off by opening the envelope or book or file folder the mouse is in." Rossi explained, snatching the toy out of Hotch's hands. "As for the not falling out, a magician doesn't reveal his tricks. Right Reid? Reid?"
"Looks like your co-conspirator conked out on you, Rossi" JJ softly said. Scooping the sleeping boy up, she shuffled over to the couch. The young mother gently laid the tiny profiler down, placed his stuffed Ewok in his arms, and then settled the youngster's camouflage blanket over him. "Sleep well Spence" JJ whispered, kissing her friend's forehead.
Once JJ came back to their circle and the others had carefully opened their folders, the team got back to the task at hand.
"The unsub has to be a local." Morgan surmised. "It's someone who is always around but not really noticed; someone who blends into the background."
"He's strong, too. Both of the store owners were big, rough looking women. Not the type to be easily subdued." Prentiss pointed out.
"Maybe he surprised them?" Rossi offered. "He could have crept up behind them and knocked them out."
"If that were true, why wasn't there blood or some sign of a struggle at the bar?" Hotch questioned.
"And why take them so close together?" Emily added. "There are only a few days between the two disappearances. What's he doing with the women? Is he killing them and dumping the bodies and they just haven't been found? Or is he keeping them for some reason?"
"Whatever the case I think it's safe to say our unsub prefers older women." Rossi told them. "All the victims were over thirty. In fact they were all in their fifties except for the first victim who was only thirty five."
"She looks older than the others." Derek remarked with a grimace.
"I believe the expression is she looks like she's been rode hard and put up wet." Rossi said.
"Not a nice expression but it does fit our victim." Emily begrudgingly admitted.
"If she really is a victim." Morgan muttered, closing his case file. "We have no proof that Carol and Patsy are victims of foul play. They may have just moved on to another town."
"True" Prentiss replied. "But it would be a mighty big coincidence for them to turn up gone right before two other women disappeared from the same area."
"That's if the other two were indeed taken." Hotch stated. "We can't be certain of that. Right now all we have are four missing women who may or may not be connected and one crime scene that we know of. We won't be able to ascertain if one or all of the missing ladies are victims of our unsub until we land and begin our investigation."
"Aaron's right. We don't have enough information to go on yet. The police didn't even bother to send crime scene photos or witness interviews." Dave grumbled.
"You're assuming they actually interviewed someone." Emily scoffed. "From the look of this report, they didn't do that. Actually they didn't do much of anything."
"At least not until the last victim was taken" JJ broke in.
"Yeah, I noticed that." Morgan said. "Why did the police suddenly care then? Was it the crime scene or something else? What made her so special?"
"We'll have to wait till we land to find that out." Dave responded.
"Wanna play a few hands of poker while we wait?" Derek suggested, pulling out a brand new deck of cards.
"Same deal as last time?" Emily asked, perking up at the thought.
"Loser has to spill about an embarrassing moment?" JJ questioned, grinning from ear to ear. "I'm in!"
"Me too! Me too!" Garcia cheered.
"I'm not sure it's wise to…"
"Come on Aaron! Don't be an old stick in the mud! Let's have some fun! Or are you too scared?" Dave goaded.
Hotch raised an eyebrow. "Scared huh? I'll show you old man." He growled.
Dave smirked. "You heard the man, Morgan. Get to dealing." He ordered.
"You've got it Hoss." Derek answered, giving the older man a knowing smile. Breaking the wrapper, he swiftly pulled out the new deck, shuffled the stiff cards a few times, and then started passing them out. This was gonna be awesome!