Notes:
TW: some gruesome details about the criminal, surgery references etc. It's canon typical level (but without visuals) and someone throws up (not detailed)
Look after yourselves, my lovely readers.
"Alena, thanks for coming in," Rossi greeted her from the center of the big screen, several faces popping in and out of frame around his shoulders.
Alena had nothing to say in response to that and simply nodded.
He took the hint and introduced her, "Agents JJ, Prentiss, Morgan, this is Doctor Alena Wilderfeld. I assume you've got something for us?"
"Alena is fine, and yeah I do."
Rossi raised a hand and the bustle around him stilled, two women and a man in the background stepped in closer, watching with some intensity.
Alena took a moment, looked down at the photos one last time and took a few deep breaths and then began in a clear voice. "Your perp isn't torturing and mutilating these women, at least I don't think that is his intention… he's uh- harvesting."
"Harvesting?" Agent Morgan queried.
"Muscle and bone, yes. I'd be willing to put great odds on it that the removal occurs almost immediately after brain death, though I can't rule out the possibility that it's happening concurrently or just before death." Alena said somberly, there was no way to make the facts less brutal. "He's selecting features." Seeing Rossi's prompting to further elucidate she continued, describing in stark terms the way the victims had been prepared for this 'surgery', what had been taken and the tool marks that indicated the perpetrator had more textbook knowledge than practical experience. But he was growing in confidence. It left her feeling cold and sweaty, like a block of ice sitting in her stomach.
"From what you've said, it seems like the victims aren't his focus, merely a means to an end," Rossi concluded.
"What is his end?" The blonde agent asked, not hiding her disgust.
Disgust that was echoed in the deeper twisting in Alena's stomach. She was going to be sick after all. Just a little longer. She needed to hold it together just a little longer.
It was Reid that answered JJ's question, he was looking at the photos. "He's building a face. And not just any face, he's trying to recreate someone specific or he would have selected the most symmetrical ones."
"Alena, is it possible he's attempting to implant them onto someone else?" Rossi looked troubled to be asking but she understood the gravity of the question.
"I can't know what he'd try, there's no evidence of transplantation of any kind on these women."
"Would it be survivable?" Rossi pressed again.
For a brief moment she imagined it, the disinfected operating room, a chorus of beeps from the equipment, a scalpel in her gloved hand. The first incision. Sickly sweet copper filled her nostrils and she pressed her eyes tight shut trying not to see the swell and spill of blood but it continued playing on the backs of her eyelids.
"No. The tissues wouldn't remain viable—" Alena choked back a cough as the acid taste of bile flooded her senses. Rossi's brows raised and he opened his mouth to speak, but she raised a hand to stay the unhelpful concern. Clearing her throat quickly to finish saying what needed to be said, "the tissues wouldn't remain viable for long, and a recipient would not survive the operation."
Discussion resumed among the BAU team about the timelines and probabilities and Alena used the respite to sink gratefully into her chair, twisting the gold hoop and willing the distant pressure on her vagal nerve would postpone the inevitable. A few minutes longer, just until Rossi couldn't see her. Aunt Maggie would be furious if she found out, and if Alena got sick, Rossi would be sure to tell. She knew she was their pet project at the moment and didn't need to give them more to worry over.
Doctor Reid kept glancing in her direction and she pretended attention to the conversation again, Agent Morgan was divvying up duties and the conversation seemed at an end.
Rossi filled the screen, "thank you Al, you've given us enough to get started, I'll write an IOU."
"Make it two." Alena gave him a tired grin and a joke to reassure him, "I'll let you pay in installments."
Rossi squinted at the screen, blinked and looked as if he was about to say something but he just pressed his lips together and then in a softened voice said, "I'll give you a call when I'm back in DC, you look after yourself alright?"
"Will do. We'll talk later." Alena nodded an affirmative to Doctor Reid's silent question and he ended the call. The moment the screen went black she rose to her feet, "Doctor, if you'll excuse me, I uh. I'd like to use the bathroom."
"Of course, it's just down the hall that way."
"Thank you." Alena walked briskly out the door and then jogged the rest of the distance in as casual manner as she could manage. She made it in time but only barely. Two favors weren't going to be enough she decided as she flushed away the remains of a meager dinner.
"Hello?" A worried female voice echoed through the tiled room. "Are you okay in here?"
Alena fought a second wave of nausea to answer "yeah, I'm fine." Hating that her voice sounded as rough as she felt.
"Reid said you looked like you might be sick…"
"I, uh, I'm fine, tell Doctor Reid I'm fine." Alena tried to stand but stumbled and slumped back to her knees with a groan.
"Uh-uh, honey, that sounds very much not fine, can you open the door? or should I get the janitor key?"
The woman sounded determined and in her weakened state Alena decided not to cause a greater disturbance by resisting, reaching behind her to slide the latch open. She was immediately hit with the vibrant pink of a fuzzy sweater and the worried face of a kind looking woman.
She took charge immediately, chatting, patting the sweat from Alena's forehead with a wad of clean tissue and chatting incessantly in a soft voice. "Oh sweetie, you're all flushed and green, did you already…? Yeah, I smell it… No! No, no, don't be embarrassed sweetie, it's totally okay, its okay, you're okay. Do you think you'll need to… again? No? Because I'm a sympathetic puker, and that would be worse for you."
Alena managed a breathy chuckle and felt the pressure behind her sternum drop a degree.
"That's better, yeah, you're getting more colour already. Goodness, you have really pretty eyes. I'm Penelope… Garcia... Penelope Garcia… well, Technical Analyst Pen- You know what? That's not important- your name is Alena? I was listening in on the video conference earlier, that's what I do. Not that my job is listening in, I'm with the team, tech support you know, but I hate seeing all the gross stuff so I didn't actually watch the screen. Is that what got to you?"
Alena swallowed dryly, deciding the last question was the one to answer, "sort of."
"Think you can stand up? I've got makeup and hairspray in my bag if you need it." They rose together and Alena sighed with relief when the movement didn't bring a new wave of turbulence with it.
"Thank you, no. I'll be alright. I just need a minute to collect myself."
"If you're sure… holler if you need anything, I'm just across the hall."
"Thank you, Penelope."
"You are very welcome." Garcia said sweetly, waggling her fingers as she left.
Alena shrugged out of her jacket and set it aside to wash up. The tap turned on automatically and she wet her hands and reached for the soap dispenser, allowing her body to go through the familiar motions without thinking. Thoughts drifting out of focus as a thick lather formed. Between the fingers of her right hand with her left, then the left with her right, the webbing between forefinger and thumb, under the nails, scouring the palms and backs of her hands and up her wrists to her elbows. The water washed the suds away and she stood for several long seconds, palms up and facing her as small puddles formed on the counter beneath. Finally she snapped back into the present. A splash of cold water on her face took the last of the sick feeling from her skin and she smoothed the baby hairs down wishing she'd thought to bring her bag with her into the bathroom. What she really needed was a toothbrush but a little tap water to rinse her mouth would have to do.
Doctor Reid was waiting in the hall. "I raided Emily's desk, thought this might help." He held out a pack of mint gum.
So much for acting as though nothing had happened. Alena wrestled the desire to laugh at her own folly down to a chuckle. Even if Garcia hadn't already told him, it was hardly above a profiler's paygrade to put the obvious evidence together. She took the gum from him and said a sincere, "thank you."
"Water? or Coffee? I was just going to make a pot." He walked toward the bullpen, his body still half turned toward her in a clear indication that he wanted to continue the conversation and when she followed, he turned left into an open room with a kitchenette on one wall, a couch at the back and a dining table and chairs in the middle.
"Just water, thanks. You're making coffee at this time of night?"
The analog clock on the wall read 8:24.
Spencer handed her a glass and shrugged, "the team could call at any time, the bodies were dumped late at night and given the timeline there's a high probability that he's already with his next victim."
He said it so matter-of-factly that Alena nearly aspirated the gum, coughing roughly and bending over to help her lungs expel the last burning traces of the water she'd breathed in.
"Are you okay? Do you need a trash can?"
"I'm okay, just swallowed the wrong way."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure." Alena straightened up, clearing her throat and trying for a neutral expression. "I'm fine, really Doctor Reid. I was just... really hoping that there wouldn't be any more victims."
"It's unlikely that this unsub is increasing his cooling-off period, and given that there was only 9 days between the two we know about, and it's already been 7—" Reid stopped suddenly, seeing her twist that gold hoop again. "Sorry."
Alena nodded, avoiding his eyes. "I should go, but if there is- if another victim is found, please call me."
"You know you're under no obligation to return."
Reid was startled by the intensity of her eyes when they finally met his, dilated pupils, bottomless black holes absorbing everything around them.
"If there's something I can do to stop this guy, and I don't... If there's another victim and I don't help her…" She swallowed several times in quick succession. "Call. That's all I ask."
"I uh, don't have your number—" Reid began to say, but she was already pulling a notepad out of her bag and writing. Tearing out the page and handing it to him.
"Anytime night or day, I'll pick up."
She gathered her things from the conference room and left without a backward glance.
The paper Reid held contained nothing more than a phone number and her name, neither of which respected the lines on the paper. The writing was sharp and tilted and the letters ran together where she hadn't bothered to lift the pen. It was the penmanship of an impatient mind and at complete odds with the way she dressed and spoke. Nor did it quite fit the personality of someone who strove to earn a doctorate and didn't want the title.
The coffee maker finished gurgling and he returned his attention to it and the case at hand. There was no reason to believe this unsub would slow down when he had come this far already.
It didn't often happen, but Spencer really hoped he would be proven wrong.
His phone rang at 5am Sunday morning.
"…Just arrived at the scene, I'll send the photos over as soon as I can." JJ was saying over the phone, Reid heard a car door slam and sirens in the distance. "ME is going to take the body to the morgue, he estimated she's been here about a month. Do you think Wilderfeld would be willing to assist again?"
"I'll call her."
"It's still early, call after 7. Let's do a walk through first."
They switched to video call and JJ and Derek walked him through the scene. An abandoned shack, its roof bowed with age, the door had been set over the opening though it no longer fit and the hinges had rusted through long ago. The body had been removed but the flies and smell remained and JJ made a face.
"White sheet, hands across the chest just like the others. There were no footprints in the dust when the scene was discovered, the unsub must have swept the floor." Derek said, moving the phone so Reid could see the prints of the crime scene techs crisscrossing each other.
"Before or after depositing the body?"
"Both, there's no dust under her, just packed dirt. He must have swept his footprints on the way out. This guy is methodical. Why the shift in MO, he had to have a reason to start placing them in the open."
"The caller was angry that no one had found her yet," JJ added.
"The unsub?" Reid asked.
"That's what we were thinking. He said, 'how could you let her mother worry' in the call."
"He seems to sympathize with the family more than the victims…" Derek trailed off suddenly, "we know he shows respect to the victims after death. He cleans, wraps and poses them like he's preparing them for burial. It's about more than just removing evidence for him. He needs them to be found…"
Reid finished the thought, "he wants the families to bury their daughters properly. As if that's something that has been denied to him."
"So, he's trying to recreate his missing daughter so he can bury her?"
"I don't think so, he talked about the mother worrying, I think its more likely he's searching for a sister or niece on behalf of a mother."
"When we identify this victim, we can put a composite of the selected features together, but I don't think it'll be easy with how much time has passed."
"Reid, you and Garcia should start searching the database for missing women in the same age range as this victim, we'll call as soon as we get any more details on her, you can use that to narrow it down."
"Look for anyone that matches this victim in the recent missing reports, but spread a wider net for the unsub's family member, she may have gone missing a long time ago."
They signed off and Reid made another phone call.
"Hello?"
"Hi, this is Doctor Reid—"
"—There's been another death?"
"Yes, well, not another exactly, we think we've found the first victim."
Silence.
"I'm sorry for calling so early, but I thought you'd want to know."
"Yeah. Uh… okay. Are you at Quantico?"
"Not yet, I just got the call."
"I'll meet you there."
Notes:
I love to hear what y'all think in the comments!
Will they catch the killer before he strikes again?
How's the characterization? I'm still learning Alena's voice and trying to make sure I keep the BAU cast in character as well :)
As always, drink water, eat something, look after yourselves!