Aitana sifted through the pile of cases on her desk, trying to organize them as best as she could. Penelope had been kind enough to bring some of the files she was thinking of presenting that week. She'd been a true angel letting Aitana still share the liaison duties while she went to school. Patience was Penelope Garcia in human form. In fact, today was the first day Aitana was back after a series of midterms and Penelope was so kind enough to catch her up on the cases the team had worked on. Aitana had taken off an entire week to focus on her studies so there was a lot to catch up on.

"Hey Aitana," Spencer greeted at the doorway. He'd seen the office door opened and since Aitana had been gone for an entire week, he made the presumption she was finally back today. He was glad he was right. "You're in today!"

"Yeah, I finally finished with my midterms." Aitana gave a distracted wave of her hand. "Thank God."

"That's great!" Spencer said, smiling. "How do you think your exams went?"

"I think pretty good," Aitana admitted rather confidently. She picked up the stack of cases, noting they were indeed massive for just one week she'd missed. "I may have lit a candle to the Virgin Mary for extra luck but I think it went pretty well in the end."

Spencer chuckled. "Really? You really lit a candle?"

"I'm Catholic, Spencer. I have a few tendencies that—" Aitana finally looked up to greet Spencer properly but ended up doing a double-take.

"That what?" Spencer waited patiently.

Aitana blinked out of her stupor and ducked her head. "Uh, you got a haircut…" She felt her entire face warm up like she was on fire. Where the hell is this coming from?

"Hm? Oh, yeah," Spencer shrugged. "Morgan says I keep going for a floppy style and I can't convince him otherwise." He was oblivious to her reaction and Aitana was eternally grateful. He just looked so good...

She managed a smile at him but even then it was short as she focused entirely on calming herself. This wasn't happening, it wasn't, it wasn't... She just...she liked how he looked. That was it. Haircuts changed people's appearances and sometimes for good. That was it. That was all.

"You look good — nice!" Aitana exclaimed, eyes once again wide. "The-the haircut — it's nice." She made haste around her desk, catching sight of the bullpen in the process. "Is Rossi alright?" Her question was perfect to move the conversation along.

"There's something wrong," Spencer said in a matter-of-fact tone. He walked up beside Aitana, both standing in front of the window. The blinds gave them the perfect cover.

"Why do you say that?" Aitana said, figuring afterwards that it was stupid considering their job. Still, Spencer was kind enough to answer her.

"He's been reading the same page for 16 minutes and 24 seconds."

"Oh, um, maybe it's a really good article?"

"It's never taken him longer than 11 minutes, 17 seconds to turn a page."

"I guess that does sound a bit — wait! You time how long it takes us to read a page?" Aitana was flustered all over again. Her head flipped in Spencer's direction.

"Just the things I notice," he shrugged.

"But you — God, don't even tell me how long it takes me." Aitana would rather save herself the embarrassment.

"Okay," said Spencer easily, although a moment later he added in a rushed voice, "But you seem to have a longer time when it comes to Harry Potter."

"What!?" Aitana exclaimed. "Hey! That's not fair! The only times you saw me read those was when I got sick! Of course it would take me more time to read the pages!"

Spencer smiled at her, about to add on that she also tended to reread the same pages a few times on that occasion. He figured she was right about being sick naturally slowing her down. "Right."

Aitana was still rather put out about her time until she saw Rossi again. "He hasn't changed the page," she noted. "What do you think it is?"

"I'm extrapolating probabilities as we speak," Spencer said, taking off when he saw JJ and Emily approaching Rossi.

Aitana quickly left her stack of files on the desk and followed after him. "And still timing, I presume?"

Spencer smirked. "Not anymore."

"...what happened the other night?" Emily had just asked when the two joined the group. Morgan had wandered over as well. Rossi couldn't look more bombarded.

"Something happened the other night?" Aitana repeated, glancing at JJ and Spencer. "What else did I miss?"

"Nothing," Rossi said sharply, "I'm considering a purchase."

"Come on, now, Rossi, you know we're not buying that," Morgan said, "What's really going on?"

Rossi let out a heavy sigh. "Look, it was a late night with Ringo and not enough coffee. I mean, the guy's a world-class drummer, but don't think I didn't wipe the floor with him in a rock band."

Everyone stared with contemplation.

"All right, what do you think?" JJ finally broke the silence. The others around her continued to think for another moment.

"He could be telling the truth," Spencer remarked. "I only played him to the easy level. I can't tell."

Rossi stood up from his seat wearing a smug smile. "And you never will."

"Let's get started," Hotch's voice cut into what was sure to be a promising interrogation. He and Penelope were already waiting near the conference room.

"Saved by the bell," Aitana whispered to Rossi with a quiet chuckle to follow.

"Cerniera lampo," Rossi said shortly as he passed Aitana by.

"What?" Aitana blinked after him.

"He said to zip it," Spencer helped her out, although not with the kindest translation. Aitana was very much indignant and gaped with a wide 'o' shape with her mouth.

~0~

Penelope had all the case files waiting for the group when they entered. "Ok, this is Ridge Canyon Lake in California's Angeles National Forest. It's a popular destination for water sport enthusiasts. Unfortunately, some campers have discovered someone has chosen murder as their sport of choice. Three victims, all male, all found early this morning."

"He used an underwater disposal site?" JJ asked, rather surprised. "That's not very common…"

Penelope hummed, begging to differ based on what she was currently presenting. "Mm-hmm. He weighed them down with rocks and then he hid their bodies underneath shrubbery around the lake's edge."

"That's pretty risky, keeping a graveyard at a popular lake," Morgan remarked, "This guy is showing confidence early."

"Or arrogance," said Aitana on a slip. "I mean...kinda saying 'Hey, I know the lake and you don't'."

"Well, we should run priors in the area. Aitana's right. If he knows the lake well then might not be his first party," Emily said, prompting Penelope to give them more information.

"All 3 victims were reported missing last week, and each of the bodies was discovered more than 30 miles from where they went missing."

"Any indication of sexual assault?" asked Rossi.

"No external signs, but time in the water might have destroyed evidence," said Hotch, "Autopsies are being conducted now."

"And I'm gonna make matters worse," Penelope said before pulling up a picture of a blonde young man on their screen. "This is Nick Skirvin and he was abducted early this morning."

"Witness reports indicate a blitz attack," Hotch said.

"His friends were on the water and saw a figure strike Nick from behind just before they lost contact."

"That's bold," JJ remarked, eyes slightly wide at the news. "In the middle of the day?"

"More arrogance," Aitana continued with her own theory. "Attacking in bright day when there's a group. Could the group give a description?"

"Probably white, definitely male," Penelope said with a sigh. "Nothing more specific. They said the unsub had dragged Nick into the woods by the time they reached the shore."

"Fast and efficient, and he is unafraid of a heavy police presence. If he's dumping the bodies in one location, it's a good bet the area means something to him," Spencer concluded. "He probably lives in or near the forest."

"Unfortunately, Angeles National Forest 1, 016 square miles of terrain, ranging in elevation from 1, 200 to 10, 064 feet," Penelope said, flashing a smirk at Spencer because, yes, she knew numbers too. The brunette in question merely smiled with a shake of his head.

~0~

The plane ride to California was filled with more information on the victims, dumpsites and the natural scenery they were going to be dealing with.

"With no apparent evidence of physical violence or sexual assault, we could be looking at an unsub who gets off on the torture of drowning," Morgan reached his conclusions after going through the case file all over again.

"So what's the significance of the water burial?" asked Emily. "Is he visiting the dump sites to relive his crimes, or is he using it as a forensic countermeasure?"

"It could be both," Hotch reasoned.

"If the dump site's doubling as his trophy collection, he won't be happy it's been disturbed. He'll want to make a new one quickly," Morgan said, quite disturbed himself at the idea of having a whole new dump site to investigate.

Penelope's face flashed on the screen behind the group that came to life. "Uh, guys, I'm afraid that's just happened. Nick Skirvin's body has been recovered, only it wasn't found in Ridge Canyon, it was found in Lake Banter, which is 20 miles away. Visual aid to follow. And postscript, you do not want to know how many hits you get if you Google this forest plus murder. To say it should be called the Angeles National unsub dump site is an understatement."

"How was the body recovered so quickly?" Aitana inquired. She went back through the case file and noted that it had taken several days for the previous victims to be discovered.

"It wasn't way down. Nick's body was just found at the edge of the lake by some campers."

"Garcia, start compiling a list of missing persons and crimes in the area," Hotch instructed.

"Faster than a Hotch rocket!"

The others would have laughed at Penelope's misfortune had it not been for the dark information they'd just learned.

"So the unsub knew that his burial site had been compromised, and he adapted by venturing outside his comfort zone," Spencer reviewed grimly.

"And he changed his victimology. Look at Nick Skirvin compared to the other 3 victims," JJ showed the team the two victims on her tablet, their ID pictures side by side. "They were all dark-haired, well-built men, but Nick is an average blond."

"He could be an impulsive kill, not thought out like the others," Rossi began to think.

"Then why not submerge the body?" countered JJ. " Allowing it to be uncovered so soon seems counterintuitive to the self-preservation instincts he's displayed so far."

"The disturbance of his old disposal site could have thrown him off his game," Emily suggested.

"Or he's trying to shake us. By using another lake, he just doubled the size of his killing field. And our search area," Morgan said, letting his copy of the file close with a thud.

By the time they landed, it was late in the afternoon. The team split up to do some scanning outside and talk to the witnesses they had of their second victim, as well as previous victims' families.

"Alright," Aitana came over with her notes she took of her second interview, "So Phinny, Nick's brother, said that they didn't get a good look at the man. It's like Penelope had said, definitely male and maybe white."

"So basically a big chunk of the demographic here," Emily said with a weary sigh.

"Yeah, pretty much," Aitana let her notes flop on the table beside her. .

JJ walked over a moment later with similar reports. "The Unsub blends in with a younger crowd. I'd say we're looking at mid-20s to early 30s. You?"

"Well, he's methodical. Social, too," Rossi explained what he and Emily had concluded so far. "He's been able to isolate all of his victims. The mother of Jake Shepherd, our first victim, said there were several members of their church at the lake that day. But Jake was the only one with brown hair."

"He matched the age preference of the unsub," realized JJ. They had already made an evidence board to look more closely at the victims. There were some striking similarities at first glance..

"Nick's brother Phinny's a brunette, and he's a lot like these guys," Aitana remarked, "So here's a terrible question I hate to ask but it's part of the job: why not go after him instead?"

Unfortunately it was a good question to ask. It made no sense why their unsub would pick somebody who didn't fit with what seemed to be his preferences.

"I don't know," JJ said finally, breaking the silence that'd fallen over them. "But he chose Nick Skirvin for a reason and we need to figure out why."

When Morgan and Spencer returned from the coronary, they came with the news that their unsub seemed to have a knack of resuscitating victims only to then kill them again.

"It looks like we're definitely looking at a sadist," Emily concluded after listening to the full extent of the victims' injuries.

"Multiple times?" Aitana was down right horrified. Her usually big eyes were even larger the way they were widened. "Killing them once isn't enough — he has to do it multiple times!?"

"Technically, he's resuscitating his victims until he can't bring them back again," Spencer said,, although it wasn't much of a step up.

"So why the change from choking to multiple drowning?" JJ wondered out loud.

"With the damage to Jake's throat, the unsub wasn't able to successfully resuscitate him," Morgan said, "Resuscitating them makes him feel more powerful."

"Which means he has no power in his everyday life," said Hotch.

"But the change in victimology is interesting," said Emily, gesturing towards the pictures of all the Victims on the evidence board. "Nick Skirvin was the smallest, but he had the most defensive wounds on his body. He fought back the most."

"Maybe the unsub was injured in one of the attacks," Rossi offered the idea. "He's targeting easier prey to complete his end game." At the same time, his phone went off and he immediately took off to answer it.

"There's something else," Spencer said, "The M. E. tested diatom levels in the bodies and it turns out the unsub drowns his victims at different locations every time, not just where he abducts them or where the bodies are later discovered."

"Well, that's pretty risky, considering the community's on full alert," Aitana leaned back in her chair, "Not to mention the geography of this place isn't exactly walking in a straight path. This guy's intelligent, resourceful, and criminally sophisticated."

"So why is transporting the bodies so important to him?" Emily asked the winning question. Nobody knew yet, but they had a feeling they would soon.

~0~

The team decided to stay at one of the local hotels the tourists typically did. It was strategic enough to scope out any possible suspect and stay near the location in case another homicide happened. If somebody asked Aitana though, she would say it also included the perfect scenery. Even with the heat already on the rise early in the morning, the scenery was still crazy beautiful. It was she didn't mind being woken up so early. She had a good hour of peace in one of the balconies by the time somebody found her.

"Oh, don't tell me there's another one?" She dreaded the news as soon as she spotted Spencer approaching her. She pulled her leg off the wooden table and straightened up in her seat. "Doesn't this guy rest?"

"I'm pretty sure the answer is no and we'll be discovering another of his scenes very soon but for now I don't come bearing bad news," Spencer assured the brunette. "Just curious how you woke up before me."

Aitana tilted her head at him. "I wasn't aware there was a strict order of how we're supposed to wake up."

Spencer smiled lightly. "Grave mistake," he said sarcastically, "The order goes as follows…" Aitana nodded, gesturing to him to give her the important list that she would of course be clinging to and following. "First Hotch because he hardly ever sleeps during cases anyways. Then me, Rossi, Emily, JJ, you, and then Morgan. Although if you ask Morgan, he's been up for hours."

Aitana's eyebrows knitted together. "That's wrong." She went back to resting her boots on the table.

"What? Why?"

"I would put JJ before Emily and Rossi. She has a kid at home — they're always up at the crack of dawn."

Spencer chuckled. "I guess."

"So wouldn't it make more sense to put her before all of you? Right up with Hotch. Why else do you think he never sleeps either?"

"Jack claims he's a vampire who doesn't need sleep."

It was Aitana's turn to laugh. "Could be plausible. But I also stand by my statement. JJ has to move up on the list."

Spencer considered the idea with a nod of his head. Aitana watched him intently, eyes narrowing slightly as if she were truly waiting for him to tell her that she was right.

"Alright, I think you have a point," Spencer said in the end. "She can go up with Hotch."

"Good," nodded Aitana, "Other than that, you had everyone down to a T, myself included. The only reason I'm up is because my mother called me and she forgot the time difference."

Spencer made a face. "Ooh…that must have sucked."

"Yeah, and me, the woman who couldn't hate mornings more..." Aitana let out a dramatic sigh, even dropping her head against the chair.

"Mornings are actually very peaceful, you know," Spencer remarked, "And being a morning person brings you a lot of benefits."

Aitana scoffed. "Right. Like what?"

"Well, for one, our brains are hardwired to be more alert in the morning so you're able to concentrate a lot better versus if you get up much later. You're more proactive, basically."

"That all sounds great, but—" Aitana yawned and not on purpose, "—why can't I do that at, say, one o'clock?" Spencer smiled down at her. Aitana stretched her arms over her head.

"You could, but your body's biologically designed to be a morning person."

"Not this person, trust me," Aitana said sharply. "My mother knows that but she forgot time zones. And I'm here."

"Do you want a cup of coffee?" Spencer asked instantly. "I grabbed one for me a while back but I can go grab—"

"No, no, it's fine," Aitana said quickly before he could leave. "It's fine, promise. It wasn't a total loss. She called me because of my grandmother."

"Oh, is she alright?" Spencer asked with a genuine touch of concern.

Smiling, Aitana nodded her head and got up. "Yeah, yeah. My mother had the genius idea to tell her that I started participating in the folklore classes again. Remember that?"

Spencer wouldn't remind Aitana that he remembered everything. It was pointless. "Yeah, I do. How are they going, by the way?" He felt guilty for not asking about that more often. It had to be quite a challenge juggling those dance classes with online classes and work.

"Good," Aitana smiled widely, "Our competition is coming up in a couple months and my mother told my grandmother about it. She was so happy to hear I was doing that again. She and my family in Mexico, um, they don't really know about my time in WIP. All they knew was that I took some time off work, that was it."

"Right." Spencer wasn't surprised they would go down that route when it came to delicate seniors and distant family. It was for the best. "Well, at least she's happy, then?"

"Yes, but...my grandmother's got the crazy idea to come and see it herself — my competition."

Spencer's eyes widened. "She wants to travel to see the competition in person?"

"Yeah," Aitana let out a long breath. "That'll make me more nervous. My grandmother used to do Folklore dancing professionally. She knows everything about everything and now she's coming to watch me...me…" Utter fear etched across Aitana's face. "I haven't danced in about three years. What if I'm terrible?"

"I don't think you will be," Spencer said on instinct, even shrugging and making him look far more casual than he intended to. Plus, he vividly remembered Elia's comment about Aitana being far too humble when it came to their dancing. As far as he knew, Aitana was a good dancer. "If you've danced before Witness Protection then you'll be good in the competition. Is this the first time she's watching you?"

"No, but it's just been such a long time…"

"Then don't think about the timing, think about the dancing. You seemed to have fun."

"I do?" Aitana scrunched her face. "How do you know that?"

Spencer blinked. His mind immediately went to the picture that Elia had shown him the first time he and Emily visited her. Aitana and Elia were dressed to the nines in traditional folklore dresses, each wearing wide smiles. Although if somebody were to ask Spencer, he would say that Aitana's smile seemed far bigger than that of her best friend's.

"Uh...I, uh just thought you would…" Spencer awkwardly cleared his throat, having no idea why he felt so awkward.

Aitana didn't pay much attention to Spencer's flushed face. She was too busy getting past her nerves. "I haven't seen my grandparents since before I went into Witness. If I mess it up — I don't even want to think about it."

"You won't mess up," Spencer insisted. "Who knows, you might even win." Aitana laughed at the prospect. "I'm serious. I'll be there reminding you when you have the first prize ribbon."

"It's a trophy."

"I'll be there when you win the first prize trophy."

Aitana hummed. It was nice hearing someone had faith in her beside her dance team. They had to have faith in her because they practiced together for the same team. Aitana eventually met Spencer's glance and couldn't help her laugh again. That, in turn, caused Spencer to laugh with her.

JJ found them in that state and almost regretted having to come up and interrupt whatever moment they were having. "There's another victim," she announced. "Reid, Hotch wants us to head to the coroners. Aitana, you to the precinct to talk to the victim's friends. Emily and Rossi are going there now."

"Right," Aitana said, adjusting her blouse. She felt slightly warm and it wasn't that hot yet. "I'll see you guys, then." She gave Spencer a smile on her way that he matched.

JJ waited the exact time she needed to make her comment within safety distance. "Didn't mean to interrupt…"

The smile that marked Spencer's face vanished in an instant. "Don't start."

"I won't," JJ said, turning to walk with him. "...but if you want my advice, a nice dinner would be so much better—"

"You said you wouldn't start!" Spencer snapped but his voice cracked in the end, making it impossible for JJ not to laugh. "Shut up!"

~0~

The victim turned out to be a woman this time around, completely different from all the previous victims. Due to the significant decrease in strength and blood from the unsub, both Spencer and JJ were able to deduce quickly that the unsub was getting weaker himself to haul victims across the land. The unsub was getting sick and sicker. As such, the unsub had lesser probabilities to resuscitate his victims.

After the team gave the profile, Aitana busied herself with the next set of procedures. She sifted through several pictures, acknowledging the sound of footsteps growing closer. "Do you think it would be easier if I just went undercover at the lakes?" she put down the pictures on the table and glanced over her shoulder and saw JJ and Spencer. "Oh, sorry, I thought you were Rossi."

"Where is he?" JJ looked around the lonesome conference room.

"Ah, moping somewhere." Aitana grabbed the photographs off the table and turned around, speaking before either JJ or Spencer could say something. "I know he's upset about something. He never mopes and much less in a grimy office over there."

"We saw Emily coming in," said Spencer, "I'm assuming she's doing the talking?"

Aitana nodded. "Yeah. Meanwhile, I'm trying to figure out what cops would be the best UCs to send out to the lakes but I'm thinking I should just go. I know what we're looking for. Besides, these cops are all so young. Like, a lot."

"So are you," Spencer said quickly, coming over to pluck the pictures out of Aitana's hands.

Aitana laughed. "Yeah, not in comparison to them. I'm 27. But it's like I said, I know what we're looking for. Better to place me out there than some poor cop."

"Not happening," Spencer said, all too plain and simple. He took the pictures of the UC candidates like that was all it took to stop Aitana's crazy plan.

Aitana helplessly looked over at JJ for some assistance but the blonde threw her hands up in front of her. With a groan, Aitana sunk down in the nearest chair. "You guys are crazy."

A short while after, Spencer received a call from the coroner with news of the unsub's health. He waited until the team rejoined to relay the message. "Dr. Carroll says preliminary test results show the unsub has cancer of the blood. He's dying."

"All right, wait a minute," Morgan called, "Witnesses said Jake Shepherd, the first victim, was out on the lake for a baptism, right? He was with his congregation. Well, those water burials can be seen as a form of baptism, too. Especially dealing with an unsub who has a God complex. What if there's a religious or spiritual motivation to why the unsub is doing this?"

"It would work well with the CPR," said Aitana, though her nose was scrunching at the remaining holes of the theory. "But it's contrasting deeply with religion unless he's sacrificing them for some rituals."

"Let's start with the type of illness the unsub has," Hotch redirected, "If it is for a ritual or other religious motive, it might help narrow it down." He moved for the room phone and dialed in Penelope's number.

"Speak and be heard!" came Penelope's voice a moment later.

"Garcia, I need you to pull a list of patients in the area with any form of blood cancer."

"I will make HIPAA my bitch, sir!"

The others playfully shook their heads. Penelope always had a way with words.

"We also need information on Jake Shepherd. Religious ties, spiritual background, anything."

"Oh, all that information will make for a fast search. Give me a mo...spiritual, something heaven sent, other than my angelic self!" Penelope went silent for a couple minutes before coming back with a sharp 'bam'. "Whoa…Jake Shepherd joined the church after a near-death experience changed his life."

"What happened to him?" asked Emily. Everyone was now listening intently..

"He was in an ATV accident, he coded for 4 minutes, he was life-flighted to L.A. where they managed to revive him, but clinically he did die."

"Death and resuscitation. That sounds a little too similar to our unsub's M. O. to be a coincidence," Rossi said, the others nodding in agreement.

"All right, Garcia, dig deeper," instructed Hotch. "Jake Shepherd's death wasn't random."

"It's on like Obi-Wan!" Penelope dutifully replied. "Garcia out."

"So a terminally ill unsub targets a man who came back from the dead and then starts killing repeatedly…" JJ summarized with the simplest terms

It always helped the thought process. Most, if not all, of their cases typically had a simple cause and effect.

Morgan soon reached a conclusion. "Am I crazy, or is this about a guy trying to come to terms with his own death?"

"Finding out you're gonna die isn't enough to make somebody a psychopath," Emily said.

"But it could happen," Aitana pointed, "Knowing you're going to die gives you the feeling you have nothing to lose."

"But in this sense, it seems more like he's trying to find out about death," Spencer remarked, "It does explain why he stopped strangling his victims. How do you find out about death? You ask someone who died."

Deep horror flashed across Aitana's face. "Is he bringing these victims back so he can talk to them?" On second thought, she decided she would rather not know until they had concrete evidence. That was just beyond cruel and unusual.

~0~

Penelope was back on the line only a half hour later. "Jeepers, the more I dig, the more peculiar it gets. Ok, the first victim, Jake Shepherd, had an interesting life, and I'm using interesting in place of the phrase, 'He was a big hoodlum.' He had a history of truancy, petty theft, domestic disturbances, all of which landed him in the juvenile hall for some stints during high school, as you can imagine."

"Was there trouble at home?" asked Morgan.

"Not at all. Jake just fell in with the wrong crowd."

"What kind of crowd?"

"The drug and sexy parties kind. But all of that changed after his accident 6 months he…"

"Died," JJ finished for Penelope but apparently the latter had something different.

"Oh...he didn't just die. He was saved. Jake Shepherd saw the light, like literally. He spoke of a gentle light and a silhouetted figure bathed in warmth who welcomed him but told him it wasn't his time. He woke up a changed man. He believed."

"If this unsub is so obsessed with death, then Jake Shepherd was the perfect person to talk to," Rossi realized as did the rest of the team. "He'd been there and back again."

"But come on, guys," Morgan said with an air of incredulity. "Gentle lights, shadowy figures? Those are the lights in the emergency room and the doctors hovering over the patients. We all know that. No one actually sees the afterlife."

"I did," Spencer said calmly and yet claimed the entire team's attention with just those two words. "Before Tobias Hankel resuscitated me, I had that exact experience. And I wasn't in an emergency room. I was in a shed." He knew what saying those words would mean and for the others but at the same time, after years of keeping that a secret, it felt like relief was finally washing over him for admitting to it.

"Reid, you never told me that…" JJ said with wide, blinking eyes.

"I'm a man of science. I didn't know how to deal with it," Spencer said. That was the fact and he was only now admitting it. He supposed in the past he couldn't bring himself to the fact because of everything else he believed in. Plus, nobody had ever dealt with it so why would he bring it up? "There's no quantifiable proof that God exists, and yet, in that moment I was faced with something that I couldn't explain. I still can't."

"What if this unsub has had a similar experience and this is his way of looking for answers?" Emily theorized and looking at what they had now, it wasn't such a stretch.

"If that's the case, why kill Jake Shepherd? Why not just talk to him?" said Rossi.

"Well, we could circle back to, science…" Aitana drew in a breath as she crossed glances with Spencer, "He could be theorizing. Maybe he wanted to see if he had the same experience as before."

"Once isn't enough?" Morgan almost scoffed.

"Not if Jake didn't see the same thing the unsub did," said Hotch, "He wants to know if the experience can change."

"I can relate to that," Emily said suddenly, "Reid felt a warmth and saw a light. When I coded in the ambulance, all I felt was cold and darkness. And I would like to think that there's a different future waiting for me."

Like before, silence fell over the team.

"You actually died?" Aitana whispered. She felt goosebumps on her skin. The things she came to learn about her friends with these cases was downright horrible sometimes.

"All right, but resuscitation is hit or miss," Morgan said. "He can't guarantee that he can actually bring anyone back, let alone that anyone will remember what happened in their moment so-called death."

"Reid, what's the best way to make sure his victims had an experience?" Hotch asked,, thinking this was the only path they had left to follow.

Spencer felt terrible with the answer but he had to say it or else they wouldn't get anywhere. "Keep them dead longer."

Grim enough.

Moments later, things got even more grim. It sounded like the unsub had gotten himself not one victim but two. Samantha Braun and her son, Evan, were missing.

"He's abducted two at once. He needs a spot on the lake where he can control them," Hotch was saying as the team looked into possible locations. "Somewhere isolated that gives him the time he needs for his resuscitation ritual. How would he keep them dead longer, Reid?"

"There's a saying in the medical community that you're not dead until you're warm and dead," Spencer said slowly, doing his best not to let the words affect him. It was strange. He was always able to spit out information like, as Aitana said, a well. But these words hit close to home. "Colder water temperatures could lead to hypothermia, which would offer the best chance for successful reanimation."

"Sounds like we gotta get some Garcia back in this…" Aitana sing-sang until the woman in question came back through the speaker line.

"Give it to me, baby!"

Aitana smiled to herself. She did like being complimented from time to time. "Okay, our unsub's got two more victims and he's most likely taking them to the coldest part of Ridge Canyon Lake. We need to intercept him. What have you got?"

"Ok, checking water temperatures! Now we have several cold spots."

Aitana wondered how hard Penelope's computer had to be if they could all hear the pinging from their end of the line.

"What's with the pinging, Penelope?" called Morgan.

"The colder spots just matched the most recent victims' diatom levels. The unsub's been getting colder and colder the whole time."

"Cross-reference water temperatures with your list of prior deaths in the area," instructed Hotch. "This lake means something to him other than cold water. If he died once before, there should be a report about it or another trauma that keeps him rooted here."

"We both thought that he could be a first responder or knows the area well, so cross with your list of local law enforcement and park officials," Morgan added on.

Penelope had results within minutes.. "Oh, God. Daniel Whitaker was murdered 15 years ago. He was a park attendant. His dock was in the coldest part of Ridge Canyon Lake."

"And who killed him, Garcia?" asked Jj, figuring they would already know this.

"His son, Chase. Daniel physically assaulted his son and then buried him alive when he was 16. There was no mom in the picture. Chase got off light. He got out at 18."

"Garcia, check his medical history," Rossi directed. The pieces were already beginning to fall together.

"Chase was diagnosed with lymphoma when he was 10. It went into remission when he was 12, but a few months ago he was diagnosed with stage 4 and he's been given 3 months to live."

"And there's our trigger," Aitana put her hands together on the table. "The idea of having to face death again must be what sent him over the edge. The guy's been haunted his whole life by whatever he experienced that night. Penelope, address please?"

"On it my Sprinkles!"

Aitana smiled.

When Penelope delivered the address, the team was quick to arrange themselves and head out. They struck luck finding the unsub as soon as they pulled up by the lake. They only had to pull Chase from his current victim, Evan. Evan's mother was already passed out on the dock.

"I need answers!" Chase exclaimed as he held Evan at gunpoint.

"There are no answers, Chase!" Morgan said, being the closest to Chase. "Nobody gets to know what happens when we die. That's why people have faith."

"Faith in what?" snapped Chase. "My life has been one nightmare after another."

Behind the Morgan and Hotch were the others who, whole being dead silent, were mutually trying to find a weak point of Chase. Standing at the dock didn't allow for much sneaking around.

Thankfully, between Morgan, Hotch and Emily, they were able to talk Chase down. As soon as they could, they grabbed Chase and stuffed him in the back of a police car. He would be getting a decent sentencing.

~0~

"So did we ever find out why Rossi was mopey face all these days?" JJ quietly whispered to the group on their way to the elevator. They had finally finished the tedious paperwork of the case and were heading home.

"Yeah, uh…" Emily stopped the group for a moment, her eyes sweeping over them in search of Rossi. It was stupid, really, given that Rossi had headed out the first chance he got. "It's his first wife. She's, well, not doing well. And she had the idea to ask Rossi to...help."

"Help?" Aitana raised an eyebrow. "With what, exactly?"

Emily wouldn't say it out loud — the idea was very grim even for her — but the look in her eyes was able to relay it all.

"Oh gosh," Penelope shuddered. "She wants Rossi to help with that?" Emily nodded silently.

"Well, I think Rossi's behavior is more than justified," Morgan said, letting out a breath.

"Don't say anything, please," Emily's request was more than agreed upon.

"We'll just be around when he's ready," Spencer said and had the agreeing nods of the others. They all knew that with that kind of news, it would only be a matter of time until Rossi really did come to need them.

A/N:

just wanna say that Aitana is way stronger than me because one silly little haircut and I would've folded for that nerdy man *insert heart emoji here*

As always, I have AO3/Wattpad accounts under "noblecrescent" and a tumblr account under "saiilorstars" if you'd like to follow :)