Aitana pushed the double-set doors open and was immediately greeted by the sweet scent of bread. She crossed the room, coming up to the counter where an older woman was busy keeping tabs on the recent purchases.
"Buenos dias," Aitana expected her mother's surprised look in return but it was a pleasantly surprised expression. Aitana only just started dropping by the bakery and each time she did, her parents couldn't get over it. They were getting their daughter back, piece by piece but surely.
Pamela Serrano hurried around the counter to hug her daughter. "Good morning!"
"Where's Dad?" Aitana noted there were only a few customers around. It was pretty early.
"In the back," Pamela made a quick gesture to the door behind the counter. "What brings you around?"
Aitana shrugged. The best thing about seeing her parents again is that she didn't have to have a reason. She just wanted to see them and that was it. "On my way to work and I thought I'd stop by. Is that okay?"
"Of course!" Pamela exclaimed, giving Aitana another hug.
The latter chuckled. "Mom…"
"I'm sorry," Pamela pulled back. She patted Aitana's arms then stepped back. "It's just so good having you around again. I know that job of yours is a lot tougher than what you used to do but I'm so thankful that you're there. It's because of those people that you started acting like you used to…"
Aitana's lips pulled a small smile. "It's progress," she nodded.
"But of course it's not just because it's been. Ultimately it's you who's making these decisions. And I'm just so proud of you sweetheart!"
"Thanks Mom," Aitana said with a flushed face. No matter what she could always count on her mother to feel good about the simplest things she did.
"There she is!" Her father, Javier, emerged from the backroom. "I thought I heard your voice."
"Hi Dad," Aitana hugged him and laughed when his cinnamon scent was just a tad too much for her nose. "Baking something cinnamon-y today?"
"Pan de canela," he said proudly. "Is that what you came for?"
"No, I just came to see you that's all," Aitana shrugged, her face sheepish the more she repeated herself. "Is that okay? Or were you busy?"
"Never for you!" He took her into another hug. Just like always, she clung to him. She didn't realize how much she missed her parents until she came back to them. Things weren't back to normal but they weren't the same either. Things were a little better than what they used to be. And with time, they might get back to normal...or at least a new normal for her.
But for right now, Aitana would focus on the hugs of her parents.
~0~
Aitana arrived at the BAU just as they were gathering in the conference room. "Good morning," she chirped, an act that was immediately noted by the others. "I have a special breakfast for everybody!" Because she was waving a pink box in her hands.
"Somebody woke up on the right sight of the bed today," Morgan smiled; it widened when Aitana snapped her fingers at him.
"Yup!" She planted the box in the middle of the table. "Fresh pan dulce for everyone!"
"Oh, that sounds good," Emily rubbed her stomach. She was getting a whiff of that sweetness even before Aitana flipped the box open.
"What's the occasion?" Penelope's eyes were following every movement that had to do with the box.
"Nothing, just thought you'd all like a taste of my family's business!" Aitana pulled out a cinnamon covered sweet bread.
"Oh, that one's mine," Emily reached forwards for the pastry before anyone else had a chance.
Aitana chuckled and handed it to her with a napkin. "It's good, I promise."
"I've got a sweet cinnabon here, an old fashioned chocolate concha, a buñuelo, an oreja, milhojas, a bisquet, an apple empanada, and pay de queso!"
"Woah, woah," Morgan waved a hand for her to slow down. "I understood about a quarter of that!"
Aitana laughed sheepishly. "Sorry, those are the names. I promise it's all good."
"I didn't say it wasn't. It smells good," Morgan reached over to take a peek into the box.
"Hey," Spencer strode in and quickly spotted the commotion over a pink box.
"Morning!" Aitana greeted. She shooed Morgan's and Penelope's hands away for a second to dig out something herself. "Here's one for you, Dr. Reid!"
Spencer grinned at his favorite chocolate covered, rainbow sprinkled, donut. "Oh, thanks!"
"Wait a minute, wait a minute," Morgan's finger landed on Spencer as the young man sat down. "How come he gets a personal donut?"
"I'm sorry, did you help me restart my relationships with my best friend and parents?" Aitana raised an eyebrow at Morgan while Spencer sheepishly took a bite of his donut beside her.
Morgan glanced at the others but Emily and Penelope were smart to stay out of it. In the end, he gave in too. "Okay," he sat down again. "My bad."
Aitana playfully rolled her eyes at him and promised him that he would like one of the pastries in the box. She had just given Penelope the sweet buñuelo when her phone buzzed. "Speaking of," she laughed and waved her phone at the group. Elia was calling her. "Be back in a bit, promise!" She hurried to take the call before the meeting got started.
Morgan waited the sufficient amount of time to start with his commentary. "Okay, I see you pretty boy." Spencer's head snapped up as soon as he heard that nickname. Morgan was pointing after Aitana. "Talking it up..."
"What? No—!"
"Getting special orders…"
"I-I did not ask for this!" Spencer held his half-eaten donut in the air. He glanced at Emily and Penelope and to his dismay, they were both smirking. "I didn't!"
"It's sweet," Emily shrugged. "Makes sense why you almost asked her out."
Penelope's eyes widened to the brim. "Hold on—!"
"That was because of you!" Spencer pointed sharply at Emily, almost panicking that Aitana would overhear them.
"Did she force you to?" Morgan asked him, his lips just barely keeping away his teasing smirk.
"Well...no...but she was definitely an influence!" Spencer checked the doorway to see if Aitana was nearby. When was everyone going to stop bringing this up already!? It was like every chance they had to remind him of what he almost did was their priority!
"When did this happen?" Penelope hadn't yet gotten on the same teasing page as Emily and Morgan but it was probably because she didn't know about it. Spencer sincerely hoped he was wrong and Penelope wouldn't tease him too. She was staring at him with her big eyes, blinking quickly. "How did I miss this?"
"Garcia, drop it," he all but snapped her at which was even more surprising for her too. "It was a mistake. I've already explained this to Emily." He shot a direct glare at Emily, hoping she had the good sense to feel at least a little guilty for embarrassing him. Her smiling expression made it difficult for Spencer to decide whether or not his glare had worked.
"Why would it have been a mistake?" Morgan had to ask, partially to keep the teasing going but also out some honest curiosity. It was a rare moment to hear Spencer say he made a mistake.
"Because of the timing and—" Spencer raised a finger quickly when Morgan opened his mouth to no doubt pick on that line, "—because she has a boyfriend. I don't think I need to go further than that, right?"
Penelope scrunched her face. "She has a boyfriend? How come I didn't know that?"
"Didn't know what?" Aitana caught the last question perfectly when she came back into the room. It wasn't hard to pick up she'd missed out on an interesting conversation. "What are we talking about?"
Spencer saw Penelope opening her mouth and it didn't take his entire I.Q. to know she was going to ask about the boyfriend matter. He already made his peace with the situation but he wasn't very interested in learning more about the guy either. "The bakery," he said just as Penelope squeaked a letter sound. "She didn't know your parents owned a bakery."
Aitana smiled at Penelope. "Learn a new thing about me every day," she grabbed a seat beside her. "They've been in business for a long time now."
"I can see why," Emily raised her sweet bread. "It's really good." Her eyes flickered to Spencer, meaning for him to forgive her slight slip earlier. The good news was he forgave easily.
"I'll try to bring some more but the address is on the box in case you want to stop by one day," Aitana chuckled.
"Would they know who we are?" Morgan curiously asked.
"Umm, no not really. I'm sort of easing them into the BAU. Plus…" Aitana shifted in her seat, smiling out of uneasiness, "Our relationship is still strained, not as much as before but...slow…"
"That's good. What does Rossi say?" Spencer looked at her until she smiled more comfortably.
"Baby steps," she nodded. She reached for the pastry box to get herself something too. She completely missed the looks the others were giving Spencer, though he was very grateful she didn't see a thing. As for him, he did nothing but scrunch his face. Why couldn't they just let it go?
"Alright, let's get started," Hotch strode into the room. He took the seat between Emily and Penelope.
Penelope reached for the control to turn the screen on. "Three women murdered inside a gated community in southeastern new Mexico in the last 2 months. All 3 inside. Marjorie West was strangled in her home in the middle of the night while her family was out of town. They found her the next morning."
Aitana had to put her pastry down the more they got into detail about the case. She picked up her copy of the case to help Penelope out. "Jill Long was strangled in the laundry room while her husband and sons were camping in the backyard. And last night, Aubrey Jacobs was killed in her home office while her daughter and husband were asleep in the house."
"Occupied dwellings is as high-risk as it gets. And he's fearless," Penelope shuddered. Based on the photographs she was "lucky" to see, how could she not shudder? "Proximity, the chance he might get caught…"
"That could be part of it for him," Emily remarked.
"You said gated community," Spencer took another skim of your case. "I'm assuming that means security?"
Penelope nodded. "A small security staff and perimeter cameras. Everything's recorded 24-7, and no one has entered or left the compound since last night except residents."
"It looks like the unsub is part of the community," Hotch spoke up, his face grim as he went on, "The local Detective says that demographics, general makeup, and socioeconomic status of the residents is essentially the same."
"That's going to make a profile difficult," Morgan said. Even now the case they had didn't exactly give them any outstanding details.
"Unless we examine a different set of parameters," Hotch said, earning quite the looks from the other.
"Uh, sorry," Aitana scratched the side of her head. "Different parameters?"
Hotch nodded. "Rossi's working on that right now." That was all he was apparently going to say on the matter too.
~0~
Rossi arrived later on in the day but didn't say a word to anyone. He went straight to Hotch's office and half an hour later, that's where he remained.
"What do you think they're talking about?" Penelope asked Aitana, both lingering under the latter's doorway.
Aitana shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not sure. Does this happen a lot?"
It was Penelope's turn to shrug. "Sometimes. But usually when that happens, it doesn't mean well."
Aitana got the gist when she noticed Morgan lingering by Emily's desk, both of them staring at the closed office as well. They were all in sync and they didn't even know it.
"Oh!" Penelope exclaimed, suddenly pulling Aitana inside her office.
"What? What!" Aitana was left blinking and stumbling a few steps.
"They were coming out!" Penelope was frantic and poked her head out just to make sure. "Yeah, they're out!"
Aitana playfully rolled her eyes and headed for her desk. She assumed it was time to go so she went for her go-bag. "Oh Penelope."
"Oooh, there's a girl!"
"Mm, really?" Aitana pulled her bag over her desk then searched for a few files she would need in New Mexico.
"I've never seen her before!" Penelope tried opening the blinds a bit more. Aitana was surprised she hadn't outright pulled them by this point. "Ooh, Morgan and Emily are greeting her. Who is she!?"
Aitana slung her bag's strap over her shoulder and headed for the door. "Why don't you come out and say 'hi'?" She tapped Penelope's shoulder on her way out. She chuckled when she heard Penelope's heels clicking behind her.
As soon as Hotch saw them coming, he motioned the mysterious woman towards them. "Agent Seaver, special agent Garcia and supervisory special agent Serrano."
"Hi," Seaver shook hands with Penelope first then Aitana.
"Agent Serrano takes care of the liaison duties in the field so you might be working with her a little more," Hotch added.
"Ah?" Aitana blinked, for a moment panicking that she was being replaced. Had she finally worked the team's patience?
"Agent Seaver is on loan to us from the academy while she's in remedial training with an injury," Hotch said as if he'd read Aitana's thoughts. Aitana lowered her head as the embarrassment seeped through her face.
"Concussion," Seaver said shyly, thankfully never noticing the thoughts that's gone through Aitana. "Hand-to-hand got a little out of control. Don't ask."
"How's the other guy?" Morgan then asked, making the others laugh.
Spencer arrived having heard the gist of the conversation and made his input. "I was remediated in the academy also."
"Agent Seaver, Dr. Reid," Hotch introduced them.
"Um, what was your issue?" Seaver asked the doctor, if only to keep a conversation going.
"What was my issue?" Spencer thought, or pretended to think, before listing off the several reasons. "Marksmanship, physical training, obstacle course, hogan's alley, you know, pretty much everything that wasn't technically book related." Seaver's eyebrows raised, but she was unsure whether to be impressed or confused, until Spencer added, "They ultimately had to make exceptions to allow me into the field."
"Agent Seaver's going to accompany us to New Mexico," Hotch announced, "As a consultant."
"She is?" Emily raised an eyebrow. "On?"
"She has a unique perspective…"
Seaver stopped Hotch with a quiet question, "They don't know?"
"Well, we weren't sure how you wanted to, uh…" Rossi left it unsaid for her to make up her own decision.
She straightened herself up to address the rest. "Seaver's not my original last name. It's my mother's maiden name. Mine used to be Beauchamp. My father is Charles beauchamp." Recognition flashed through every individual, much like she expected.
"As in the Redmond Ripper Charles Beauchamp?" Morgan nearly gawked in her face.
Seaver nodded. "That's him."
"He killed 25 women over 10 years in rural North Dakota," Aitana whispered to Penelope who'd been gripping her arm since Seaver spoke. She presumed Penelope didn't know and even now, she wasn't really liking it either. Whatever it was, Aitana assumed that nobody disliked this information more than Seaver herself.
"I think that you caught him, right, Rossi?" Morgan directed his finger towards the man.
"Hotch was on that team, too. Based on her life experience, we were hoping that agent Seaver might recognize something in the family dynamics inside the community that could be helpful."
"Oh," Aitana said a little louder than she intended to. She now understood why Seaver would be working a bit more with her. As liaison, she would be dealing a lot more with families and if that unsub was amongst them, Seaver would compare her own dynamics to that of the unsub's family. Oh, that had to be hard. Aitana couldn't imagine doing that.
"We have a plane waiting," Hotch reminded the team and motioned them to start heading out. Unfortunately, only Rossi and Seaver took the lead.
"Her father was a serial killer?" Emily stepped closer to Hotch. "That's definitely a different set of parameters."
"I don't want her presence to get us sidetracked. It's a long shot that she's gonna see anything helpful. We work it like any other case."
"You got it," Morgan said, though it was still a pretty challenging thing to digest.
~ 0 ~
As soon as the group arrived at the gated community in New Mexico, they knew it would be a special type of case. For one, it seemed like everyone knew everything. Aitana got the gist when she stepped out of the SUV and scoped out at least five different houses where people were already staring at them, and she wasn't even going to start with the people on the actual sidewalks.
"There sure are a lot of people," Aitana heard Seaver remark behind her. She turned around to see the young woman naturally faltering for a moment.
"They're like hawks. They come with the job unfortunately," Aitana sighed.
"...well, the fact of the matter is, 'beam me, up, Scotty' was never actually said…" They heard Spencer's voice drifting towards them from the second car. Aitana turned around to see him animatedly rambling on behind Morgan who, despite wearing sunglasses, couldn't be more close to cracking." The closest they ever got was, "Scotty, beam us up" in "the gamesters of Triskelion" and "the savage curtain" episode, but interestingly enough—"
"Reid," Morgan finally cut him off, "Come on. Give it a rest."
With a laugh, Aitana stopped by their side, "Isn't that from Star Trek? Angel always talks about that but I'm afraid like Morgan, I'm completely lost with that."
Morgan looked at her from above his sunglasses with an expression that Spencer picked up on fast. "Angel?" Aitana nodded. "Would that be your bo—"
Spencer yanked Morgan's arm, or rather tried to, which resulted in a very awkward tug that landed him far too close to Morgan's side. "We-we should go meet Detective Ruiz right now."
Aitana only blinked at them with confusion as Spencer pulled Morgan with him into a walk.
"What's the matter, kid? I'm just scoping out for information," Morgan said with an obvious smirk on his face. That wasn't all he was doing and he knew it.
"You're trying to embarrass me, that's what. Why can't you people just let this go?" Spencer muttered. He was no stranger to their teasing and much less when it came to women but this time they were being far too persistent.
"Hey," Morgan stopped him at the end of the sidewalk. "I'm just trying to help. Plus, I was a little curious."
"Aha, 'curious'," Spencer folded his arms over his chest. "And if it wasn't clear before, I'm not looking for help. Aitana is a friend I would like to keep."
"Keep as a friend, or…?'
"Morgan."
Morgan raised his hands. He hardly ever heard Spencer's tone go that sharp with him. He must be striking up a nerve and a special one at that which would just add more fuel to the game if he was being honest. "Alright, alright, but you'll be damned upset if it turns out that you still had a chance and you didn't take it."
Spencer's face scrunched. "Chance?" he was left to say when Morgan left. What chance? There was no chance at all. He was being very honest with the team when he talked about the imprudence it would be to even think about asking Aitana out on a date. She had things going on and, the biggest thing of all, she was already dating someone!
He turned his head to see Aitana and Seaver coming his way. He panicked for a second until he remembered that they were on a case and so of course she would be heading in the same direction as him. Morgan's messing with my head! He managed an awkward half smile for Aitana when she passed by and gave him one as well.
Once they were in the community home, the team started setting up and looking at what the local cops had already gathered. Aitana made herself known to one of the local detectives.
"I'll be needing to speak with the victims' families," she said, already making a mental note of how many members that would be.
"We've already done that ma'am," the detective said, rather condescendingly too.
She wouldn't let her irritation get by without him noticing. "It's Agent Serrano, thank you, and I'll need to do it myself again. Can you get me their contact numbers or their addresses, please?" She raised an eyebrow at the man, leveling his look until he went to do what she asked. Aitana heavily rolled her eyes and turned towards one of the tables. She would wait right there until the man came back with what she wanted. If she left, the man might be capable of not bringing her anything out of spite.
"Umm…" Seaver was making her way over, naturally looking out of place. "Agent Hotchner said I should be here with you?"
"Yeah, that's fine," Aitana nodded. "I'm just waiting for them to give me the contact information for the victims' families. We're going to interview them with Prentiss and have you observe anything suspicious."
"I thought you were going to do them?" Seaver asked and only then realized how that came across as. "I mean—"
Aitana waved a hand to stop her. "Don't worry. I just started here a month ago and I'm not comfortable doing interviews all on my own just yet."
Seaver nodded slowly, her attempts to try and understand everything was both appreciated and slightly bemusing. It was like there was a new kid in school. "So you just started then?"
"It's been a while but it's always good to have some more experienced eyes too. You'll see."
~0~
"...and that is the whole kit and kaboodle on each of your 64 suspects!" Penelope finished with a hearty exclaim over the phone. "Nothing really stands out. They're all pretty plain."
Spencer pursed his lips as he went through some of the profiles the local detectives had put together for them. "That's pretty much the main issue we're going to have here."
"Yeah. Vanilla doesn't make your job any easier."
"No, it does not."
There was a small pause before Penelope spoke again, and even when she did it was too casual for Spencer not to be suspicious. "So, um, how's it going with the agent whose father was a…"
"How'd you know that!?"
"You know? I might have looked into someone's hidden background." Even though it was just a phone call, Penelope could hear Spencer's disapproval. "What? I am not gonna let some strange new person travel with my family and not find out who they are!"
"Isn't this what got you in trouble with Aitana?"
Penelope shrugged. "Water under the bridge. I couldn't help myself, okay!?"
Spencer knew she couldn't, especially when Seaver had that type of background going for her. "Well, she seems fine…"
"Hold on, what is that in your voice?"
"What's what in my voice?"
Penelope chuckled. "Oh, my God, you think she's pretty!"
Spencer wondered how on Earth she reached that conclusion. "What? I never said that!" But of course his voice decided to crack as he made that claim, giving Penelope all the more fuel she needed.
"Ho ho, you totally do! So here's a random question…" Penelope tapped her finger in the air, "Who'd you rather work the case with? Pretty Seaver or Sprinkles?"
"I…" Spencer would hate the way he automatically found Aitana close by. She and Seaver were going over something. "That's irrelevant!"
"Not to me it's not, c'mon!" Penelope wished she could see the face on him right now. It had to be priceless. "It's Aitana, isn't it? It has to be."
"I know her better, alright? Nothing wrong with that!" Spencer huffed. He had built a friendship with Aitana that started long ago in San Diego. It's why he cared so much whether or not this teasing ever reached Aitana. He didn't want her to think that he built that relationship for other reasons.
Penelope still laughed. "Glad to see where your thoughts are, lover boy! You know I'd root for you! P.G. out!"
Spencer couldn't explain the relief when she hung up. He looked over to see Aitana was still working like nothing. Good. He just had to hope that with time, everything would be normal and no one would even remember what he almost did.
"What's all that?" The security Chief startled him out of his thoughts. He was motioning towards the stack of papers in Spencer's hands.
"Oh, our technical analyst ran background checks on the suspects."
"I could have given you that."
Spencer heard the edgy tinge in the man's tone. "We typically gather our own intelligence. Our federal databases tend to have more detailed information."
"Well, how do you know they're more detailed if you haven't seen ours?"
"It's nothing personal, chief…" Spencer got the idea that no matter what he said from here on out, the chief would take it as a hostile move.
"It's just, you could have asked."
"Next time I will…" Spencer backtracked a few steps until the chief turned away completely, leaving him to make a hasty sprint towards the others. Suddenly, he didn't mind being close to Aitana. "Has anyone vetted them?"
"Garcia's doing a separate check on police and security staff," Rossi answered quietly.
Seaver looked around and noticed the mutual agreement between the group. She didn't get it. "Why?"
"Law enforcement and security are the kind of jobs that would attract this unsub," Hotch explained.
"Dennis Rader, BTK, was a compliance officer in park city, Kansas," Spencer started listing off the top of his head, and that was a lot. "Kenneth Bianchi, one of the hillside stranglers, worked as a security guard in California and Washington."
Aitana silently smiled at Seaver's reaction. No one ever expected the well of information that Spencer seemed to have. It still caught her off guard too. She cleared her throat and added, in the end, for Seaver's benefit, "Psychopaths love official jobs and uniforms." Seaver nodded. That helped a lot.
~ 0 ~
A short while later, the group had dispersed again. Seaver was still trying to catch up with everything that came their way but it seemed like some things were just a bit quicker than her. Aitana was one of them. She'd disappeared and with so many people in the room, Seaver couldn't spot her. She did, however, notice Spencer going through a few papers at a table.
She walked up to him, barely making her presence known with a light tap of her fingers on the table. "Um, so all that stuff you said about BTK and the hillside strangler, it's all in your head?"
Spencer nodded, albeit nervously. Usually these conversations ended with the other person giving him a freaky look. "I have an eidetic memory."
"So you know everything my Dad did, then…" Seaver said, taking things just a bit on the slow side that Spencer noticed fairly quick. She was trying to get somewhere with this. "I only know what I was told and what was in the papers. I don't have a lot of details."
"Uh, what sort of details…" Spencer had just started when Aitana stopped by.
"Agent Seaver!" she exclaimed, startling both of them. "We're going to have a community meeting tonight and while I'll be directing it, Hotch wants you to concentrate on family interactions from the guests."
It took a moment for Seaver to digest the plan and while she did, Spencer focused on the other part he'd heard. "You'll be leading it?"
Aitana nodded her head. She knew the intention of the question alright. It wasn't too long ago that she'd given her first press meeting. "Yeah, it'll be way smaller than the last time but...baby steps right?"
"Yeah." Spencer happily agreed. He loved watching her slowly get used to the liaison aspect of her job. Even though she didn't see it, she had talent when it came to interacting with people. She had the social skills people wished they could have, including him.
"Hotch is already talking with the Chief about setting it up," Aitana continued. "He's mentioning everything we're going to be doing, from studying body language to what Seaver will be looking for."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Seaver asked after getting the feeling this is all the Unsub would need to make a clean getaway. "Will they be able to keep that to themselves?"
Aitana exchanged looks with Spencer and smiled knowingly at her. "Hopefully not."
~0~
Emily and Morgan arrived at the church half an hour after the others. They found the group at the altar and went directly there.
"We just came from the last victim's house. The unsub used the garage as access," Emily told them. "Maybe a remote door opener made to be universal. The police are saying it's random, but how could you randomly find a woman so vulnerable?"
"Garcia's going over backgrounds again, trying to highlight anyone with tech experience," Morgan said. "She's also doing a full workup on Brinkman and Ruiz. They had that kind of access."
"Speaking of, has anyone seen Ruiz?" Hotch asked after realizing much time had passed since they last spoke.
"I saw him a while ago," Spencer said, gesturing to the entranced doors where people were still coming in. "He set up everyone filling out forms, but I haven't seen him since."
"Hey," Aitana stopped beside Hotch, "Um, I think we're ready. One of the detectives told me mostly everyone's here."
It sure seemed that way. The pillars were almost full except for a few in the back.
"Any last advice?" Aitana asked from the team. Even though it was a far different "broadcast", it still made her nervous that she would say the wrong thing.
"We need to ask for help in a different way. Tell people that we're looking for someone who might have seen something rather than someone who did something," Hotch said, purposely nodding her to finish his thought.
It took her a moment but she got it in the end. "Because no one thinks that their friends or neighbors are capable of this. Yeah." She nodded grimly.
As Aitana headed for the podium at the center of the altar, the others dispersed to their assigned spots. Emily and Morgan accompanied Seaver to the best spot near the altar where she would be able to see the faces of the community.
"Evening," Aitana started slowly. She wanted to capture the attention before she went on with details. "I'm Agent Serrano with the FBI. You all probably know why we're here so I'm going to get straight to the point. It's our hope that someone here may have seen something odd and not even realized it. Maybe you have a neighbor who takes his trash out late, works on his car in his garage, anything that might put someone outside at an odd hour, giving them the opportunity to see something."
"Isn't it your job to find out?" A man asked, raising his hand as if that would excuse the untimely interruption and the tone in which he'd interrupted.
Aitana faltered for a second there, having expected total silence since the crowd wasn't made up of bombarding reporters like the last time. From the side, Hotch, Rossi and Spencer watched the moment happen.
"Shouldn't we try to help…?" Spencer started asking but Hotch gave a firm shake of his head. They couldn't always help Aitana and besides, it was rumored (from her last conference) that she had an attitude not to be trifled with.
And just like the last time, Aitana came back from her falter. "Of course it is, but it wouldn't be that terrible if the community decided to help every now and then. Besides," she said through a tight-lipped smile, "I would think that given the closed gate situation here, everybody would want to help us find the actual culprit here. Because I do remind you that you're likely to be trusting this person. So tell me," she looked at the man who now seemed more embarrassed than ever, "Would you like to help us?" The man shrunk in his spot. His shaky nod was all Aitana got but it was all she needed. "Thank you."
Spencer smiled at her from his spot. Morgan had told them all about the way she put the reporters from the 1940s movie case in their spots. Morgan had said it was hilarious the way such a quiet looking woman had shut down the entire group of reporters with one snap. Spencer had no idea what that could've looked like but he'd been happy for Aitana because he knew how much she struggled with the liaison part of her job. But now he knew exactly what Morgan meant. Watching it was hilarious. Aitana was typically polite and easy going but it was clear now that when provoked, she was a snapper. She most certainly didn't need their help managing a crowd. JJ had made the best choice persuading Aitana to replace her.
~0~
When the meeting was done and the people had left, the team gathered around to discuss their next move and contemplate what the meeting had brought, IF if something had been brought.
"We're gonna start with the people who didn't show, cross-reference with families with no pets," Emily told the others, earning some similar confused expressions.
To ease the confusion, Seaver explained, "I remembered I wasn't allowed to have a dog or a pet of any kind. It was more than a rule. It was a big problem for us."
It was an interesting thing that none of them really considered.
"That could be something," Hotch said but Seaver felt like she'd come with little after the meeting. Aitana had kept it going for at least an hour and this is all she came up with.
"I'm sorry I couldn't point him out."
"We don't expect you to point him out. We're hoping you can help us once we have things narrowed down."
"Plus, it's physically impossible to point someone out like that," Aitana added. "If you could do that, we'd be out of a job." Seaver managed to smile at that.
"Guys," Spencer joined them with a fresh new pile of papers in his hands. "Of the 64 suspects, 18 of them didn't show up."
"Ok. Prentiss, Serrano, take Ashley back to the model home, go through the 18 names and add the pet information," Hotch instructed the pair.
"Yeah," Emily looked at the others before taking off together.
~ 0 ~
All the way to the car, Seaver kept quiet. Even when they'd started the way to model home, she'd kept her gaze straight ahead. Aitana and Emily presumed what Seaver was thinking about.
Emily checked the rearview mirror to see Seaver still sitting silently in the backseat. "That was good stuff back there, what you said." Seaver's eyes automatically flickered to the rearview mirror. "That was helpful."
"Was it?" Seaver asked with the truest of doubt in her tone.
"Yeah. Profiling is a process. It's about puzzle pieces, things that don't look like they fit until they do."
That all sounded nice but Seaver was almost sure that she'd failed the one task Hotch and Rossi gave her. "I still don't know how anything I said will be helpful."
"Believe me," started Aitana in the passenger's seat, "A puzzle piece takes time to make sense. And you can trust me, I do puzzles at home all the time. My Friday nights, actually."
Emily snorted. "You're cool." Aitana chuckled and, despite her feelings, Seaver cracked a smile too.
"Seriously though, trust yourself a little more," Aitana said after a moment. "I know it's rich coming from me seeing as I doubt myself too but...usually things work out in the end."
"But how?" Seaver asked, eyes flickering between the pair. "You kept the meeting going for an hour—something I respect by the way—and all I was able to come up with was the no pet rule."
"Not true," Emily said. "You gave us other details. Think about it this way," she said once she saw Seaver's little faith in herself dwindle even more, "If we have a subject in interrogation, knowing that he's a father who's a serial killer who might be overprotective, that could be the perfect way to get him to talk."
Aitana pointed at Emily in agreement. "Sometimes the smallest of details fit the puzzle perfectly once you turn it the right way."
Seaver sighed and leaned against the seat. She supposed that sounded right but her faith may have taken another hit when she realized she wasn't sure how to turn the detail around to fit the puzzle. They arrived at the model home a few minutes later. They walked into the empty place and went straight towards the papers they'd left earlier in the day.
"Ok, let's hope the occupancy listings show pets," Emily reached the table first and planted a hand on the decently sized pile. "This is the pile of suspects we need to weed the 18 from."
"Lucky us," Aitana mumbled and started to wonder where the coffee was.
"What are these?" Seaver moved to the edge of the table where three lonesome files sat.
"Victim information of the families of the 3 women who were killed," Emily said while she started going through some of the files.
"Families," Seaver repeated, glancing at one of the many boards behind them. She hadn't really paid attention to them up until now. She had a good reason not to but now that she was aware of it, she felt terrible.
"Yeah, families are the hardest part about this job," Emily remarked, soon earning an agreeing hum from Aitana.
"I'm still trying to figure that part out," she admitted.
Seaver picked up one of the files to find a family's report inside. A mother, a father and a little girl.
"That's Drew Jacobs," Emily said after catching a glimpse of the man's picture. "We talked to him this afternoon. His wife Aubrey was victim number 3."
"She's never going to have a mother around," Seaver remarked about the child. Emily and Aitana paused to glance at each other. Seaver put the file down and noticed a black laptop not too far from her reach.
"That was her laptop," Aitana was almost afraid to say. The more Seaver noticed things, the worse her expressions got. "Uh, Garcia, our tech, she ran a remote data sweep of it. We're gonna have to take it back to the house."
"Meeting over?" They heard far too close to them and some someone did not invited in. The trio jumped in their spots while the Chief of Security watched them in amusement. "Relax. It's just me. How'd the meeting go?"
"We missed you there," Emily remarked, eyes narrowing slightly on the man for his unexplained absence.
"Well, I thought it would be a good time for a sweep, you know, while everyone was busy. What are you girls looking for?"
"Whether or not any of the no-shows have pets."
"Pets? Those reports aren't gonna show that."
Emily lowered the file in her hand with a weary sigh. "No?"
"But I can find out for you. Got all that information in the security office at the gate on the South end. I'll show you…?"
Emily glanced at Aitana for some help but because the brunette knew the Chief had specifically looked at Emily for that trip, she smiled and stepped back. With a subtle frown, Emily was forced to follow the Chief.
"God that guy's weird," Aitana remarked once the front door had shut. "But God help him if he tries anything with Emily." Seaver half smiled. Aitana was sure that it was almost a forced smile. "You really have to be easier on yourself. I don't know if it's hypocritical coming from me or maybe even more meaningful because I'm sort of new too…"
"It's nice," Seaver settled for. "It's kind. I appreciate it."
"Buuuut you think I don't know what the hell I'm talking about," Aitana smiled with an amusement that allowed Seaver to awkwardly nod. "And you're right, your experiences are very different from mine. But just so you know, in terms of the terrible stuff happening to you...I do know about some things."
Seaver raised an eyebrow at her, clearly wondering what Aitana meant by that. Aitana decided for the sake of their case, and for Seaver's own issues at the moment, she would leave things as they were. Luckily, to help her out, her phone buzzed in her pocket.
"I'll be back," she told Seaver then went into the next room to take the call.
"Hi there, cupcake!" Penelope's cheerful greetings would never get old and since they dealt with the worst types of cases, Aitana would absolutely love them.
"Cupcake?" Aitana mused. "I thought it was 'Sprinkles'."
"Ah, well, sprinkles...cupcakes...one's over the other, isn't it?"
Aitana chuckled. "I guess so. Anything new to report?"
"Unfortunately yes. There's been a new murder."
"What? But we just had the meeting…"
"Yeah, so he's definitely one of the people who didn't show," Penelope said. "Lock your doors, alright honey?"
Aitana couldn't help the snort she did. "Penelope…"
"I'm serious, just because you're an FBI agent doesn't mean you're immune."
"Believe me, I know," Aitana turned sideways for the threshold. She wondered if Seaver was able to put herself more together by now.
"I'll keep you posted on anything new," promised Penelope before she hung up.
Aitana put her phone back into her pocket and returned to the living room. She was stumped to find it empty. "Agent Seaver?" she called, looking around to catch sight of the blonde. "Agent Seaver?" She walked around a bit. She stopped by the staircase and peered up as much as she could. "Ashley?"
She was gone.
"What…?" Aitana hoped to God that none of what she said had made Seaver leave the place. God, sometimes she really thought that JJ made the worst possible decision choosing her for this job.
That was exactly what she told Hotch when they returned from the latest murder scene.
"She probably just needed a break," Rossi said to ease her nerves. "This can be triggering a lot of things for her."
"And me not keeping my mouth shut must be helping her," Aitana shook her head and moved for the table.
"Let's focus on the job right now and we'll talk to Seaver once we have a narrowed suspect pool," Hotch instructed. He thought like Rossi. Seaver just needed a moment. "Alright, we need to look at all 71 files and eliminate suspects our way, not theirs."
"Garcia," Morgan had the woman on the line for them.
"Fingers at the ready!" she exclaimed.
Ruiz came up to the group and noticed the odd stares most of them were giving the suspect files. "What's up?"
"There are only 67 files here," Spencer noted. "Where are the other 4?"
"Well, one of them's me. And the other 3 are the victims' husbands."
Aitana made a face. "Why would they automatically be cleared?"
To his credit, Ruiz did look genuinely stumped. "Wouldn't they? I mean, if you're gonna check them, you might as well check me."
"We are," Hotch said bluntly. "Detective, where are the missing files?"
"Right over there," Ruiz motioned to the original lonesome files Aitana remembered from earlier.
It was then when Aitana realized something was missing from the table. "Oh no, no, no, no, no," she came rushing around the table in search for the missing laptop.
"What is it?" asked Rossi who noticed her first. Morgan and Hotch kept Garcia busy with new potential suspects.
Aitana went as far as checking underneath the table for the damn laptop. She could not have missed something like that. "There was a-a laptop on the edge of the table—"
"From the Jacobs' family, yeah," Rossi nodded, still not understanding.
"I thought we had that in possession," Spencer said, eyebrows knitting together.
"We did—do!" Aitana raised her head from under the table. "But it's not here anymore! I think Seaver might have taken it! How could I miss this? What kind of agent am I if I didn't notice it straightaway!?"
"Serrano, calm down before your blood pressure goes up for no reason," Rossi motioned her to breathe normally. "No need to put your agent skills in question here. Seaver obviously felt like the victims should have the laptop back. Not a big deal."
If it wasn't a big deal then why did Aitana feel like it was? She sighed heavily. "She's not doing well here and I don't think we've been able to help her so far."
"It's not our job," Rossi said, however cold it sounded. "Seaver's here to do a job like the rest of us."
"I'm…" Aitana shook her head and moved down the table. "I don't think it's that easy. Actually," she said in a quieter voice, "I know it's not."
"Hey," Spencer moved to her side, "Like Rossi said, Seaver just wanted to return the laptop to the victim's family. It's kind of nice, in a way."
Aitana could only shrug at that point. What else could she do? Get to work, that's what. She exhaled and glanced at Morgan and Hotch going back and forth with Penelope. Yeah, that's what she needed to do.
She moved on over to help them, along with Spencer and Rossi. Between them, they discovered that one of their new suspects had an interesting background.
"Drew Jacobs has a couple arrests for assault when he was younger," Penelope said. "I'll give you more details on that in a sec."
"Wait a minute…" Aitana started making the same connection that Penelope was about to.
"Is this the husband of the woman whose computer I went through?"
"Yeah," the others collectively said.
"Oh, she was really unhappy with him," Penelope remarked. "She said he was distant, he left her alone at night."
"Yeah," Ruiz said all too sure. "Wandering around outside. As a matter of fact, before his wife was killed, he was my top suspect."
"Wait, wait. He's an I. T. Expert who travels around the world!" Penelope delivered the final piece that sent Aitana into a near heart attack.
She flapped a hand to the nearest person beside her which turned out to be Spencer. Her usual caution for his personal space was forgotten during the panic. She grasped his arm. "Th-that's where she went!"
He knew exactly what she was talking about. "I, yeah, um…" He didn't want to say he was going to panic like her but he was running along a similar line.
Hotch pulled out his phone to call Seaver immediately. Thankfully, she answered after the second ring but it took very little to figure out she was with Drew Jacobs.
"She's not armed," Aitana was right behind Hotch as he hurried towards the door.
"I know," Hotch said, "But we'll make it there. Seaver's resilient. She had to be."
"This is my fault," Aitana stopped suddenly, letting the others walk past her in the process.
Emily stopped first and a few feet ahead Spencer did the same. The former started back for Aitana. "You're not at fau—"
Aitana waved a hand for her to stop. "It doesn't matter what I feel. It's not important right now," she mumbled before heading off the cars again. Even when Spencer tried to talk to her, she brushed him off. Her feelings should have nothing to do in the cases, no matter how strong they were.
They arrived at the Jacobs' residence with quiet sirens. They were suited up in no time.
"Prentiss and Morgan, take the back," Hotch instructed the pair once they were ready to go. "Reid and Serrano, stay up front. Rossi will oversee the rest. Make noise. Let him know he's caught. It may be the only chance she's got."
The team rushed towards their designated spots and did the worst thing their job commanded in these situations: wait.
After Hotch went inside the house, Aitana stepped back from the front porch and gazed up. Only one pair of windows were lit. "He's upstairs," she said through their comms.
Spencer stayed right under the doorway and motioned a couple others to stay near for backup. He glanced over his shoulder to see Aitana staring endlessly at the window. It wasn't like she would be able to see from her spot, much less hear any conversations.
"Aitana," he called quietly, startling her anyways. She hurried back to their spot but as soon as she was beside him, they both heard the bang of a gun.
"Oh God!" Aitana exclaimed and dashed inside.
Spencer was quick behind her along with the others. They didn't make it to the staircase when Seaver came running down with a blood splatter on the side of her face and part of her shirt.
"Ashley—" Aitana's call was in vain because the blonde agent zipped past her and the others all the way out of the house.
"C'mon," Spencer tried pulling her towards the stairs. She was taking it far too hard on herself for something that's been out of her hands. Aitana followed him like a robot. She had a job to do and she would do it no matter what.
A/N:
P.S. As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "saiilorstars"