Chapter Text
The alarm on my phone jolts me awake. I check the time and it is 7 AM. I sit up, seeing the snacks from the night before left next to me. Somehow I’m under the blanket although I wasn’t when I fell asleep. Spencer is also not here. I turn on the bedside lamp and see a note left on the table.
“You fell asleep and I didn’t want to wake you. I’ll see you in the morning - Spence”
I guess he tucked me in… I shake away the butterflies and decide to quickly get ready for the day ahead. Every minute that passes is another that the unsub can snatch another girl. I fell asleep so late, I hope there’s coffee somewhere. I get dressed and get a good look at myself in the mirror, I have dark circles under my eyes from lack of sleep. I sigh and decide some makeup will do. I apply primer, concealer, blush, eyeliner, and mascara all in the attempt to make me look more awake than I feel. I set my face with setting spray as I am for sure not going to be touching up throughout the day. I add some lipstick for good measure. I wear my hair down this time. Satisfied with my appearance, I make sure to grab all my essentials and toss them in my bag before leaving the hotel room.
I loiter outside my door for a moment waiting to see if anyone else is out the door yet. Am I too early? I hear shuffling in Spencer’s room so at the very least someone is in there. I lean against the wall, waiting for someone to come out.
“Excuse me miss?”
A man grabs my attention, he’s average height and medium build with sandy hair and wire-framed glasses. I’d guess he’s in his early 30s.
“Yes?”
“Sorry to bother you but are you waiting for someone?” He asks politely. He’s wearing a uniform from the hotel so he’s probably wondering what I’m doing out in the hall.
“Yeah, my colleague is about to come out. I’ll be out of the way in a minute I promise.” I point to Spencer’s door. I tap on it quickly.
“That’s okay miss.” He turns away and begins to walk towards the stairs. At the staircase door, he stops for a moment and says, “Miss, you have lovely hair” The way he looks at me sends a cold chill down my spine. I knock harder on Spencer’s door. The man leaves as Spencer opens the door.
He’s half-dressed. “Can I come in?” I don’t really wait for an answer and he lets me in.
“Good morning,” Spencer says as he’s adjusting his tie.
“Good morning… so when did you sneak out of my room?”
“After you snored through an episode of Full House.” Spencer snickers. I glare at him, picking up his tie and whacking him lightly with it.
“Very funny. Do you know if everyone else is up yet?” I ask.
“Knowing Hotch, he probably never slept. Rossi and JJ rise pretty early, Emily and Morgan wait until the last possible minute to get up. I’m sure they’ll get us in a couple of minutes.”
I nod, at least I’m not starting my second day late. I’m rattling off the list of languages we spotted in the texts, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Russian, and Korean. We haven’t looked into translations yet. I need to ask Detective Daniel for a computer, or I should call Garcia.
Shit. I forgot to call her. She’s not going to be too happy with me.
“Y/N, are you ready to go?” Spencer brings me out of my thoughts.
“I’m ready.” Spencer is fully dressed now, his Chuck Taylors catches my eye. My boots are comfortable but not as comfortable as sneakers. I really need to verify the dress code with someone. Between Garcia and Spencer, it looks like there’s room to be fun and comfortable instead of bordering on grayscale and professional.
We walk out of Spencer’s room and run into JJ who’s already out and knocking on my door.
“Good morning,” She says eyeing the two of us curiously. God, she’s probably wondering if we stayed together all night or something.
Spencer waves, completely oblivious to what JJ is thinking. “Hi JJ,” I say, walking past her. “Where is everyone else? I went to grab Spencer when I heard he was up.” I needlessly clarify.
“Ah,” JJ responds nodding. “Everyone is down the lobby, I just came up to grab you two.”
We all go into the elevator, we ride down in silence.
I step off the elevator as soon as the door opens and walk straight into Morgan, ‘Hey Mami.” Morgan greets me. While he’s extremely flirtatious I know Morgan isn’t hitting on me. “Buenos Dias, Papi” I respond with a wink. Spanish was always my favorite language.
Rossi clears his throat, “If you kids are finished, we have to go speak with all the victims; boyfriends. Reid and Y/L/N, you’re going to the station to see if you can find any additional information.”
We both nod. “Would you ask the boyfriends what the victims' favorite books were? Or plays? I want to see if there’s a connection between the references we’re seeing and the personal tastes of the victims.” I ask.
“Good thinking Y/L/N, that can turn into a solid lead.” Emily comments. I fight the urge to smile, maybe I’m supposed to be here after all. Hotch drives Spencer and me back to the station, he’s going to arrange a press conference so he needs to finalize some details with the detectives for when a profile will be ready. My phone buzzes with a text notification from Garcia.
Good morning my crime fighters!
Already sent you the last coordinates of where Catherine Jacobs cell phone last was.
Also to chipper up your day I found a picture of baby Reid and Y/N.
Fuck. It’s a group chat. My phone buzzes again when the picture is received.
I immediately recognize it. In the photo, Spencer and I are about 9. This was when his magician phase was in full swing. He wearing a tux, cape, hat, and even white gloves. I’m wearing some sort of glittery leotard with cringy makeup. I was his assistant of course. Spencer even has braces and large round glasses. I can’t believe my new boss has a picture of child me in a sparkly leotard. This is more embarrassing than the time I accidentally kissed my supervisor on the cheek instead of a handshake. Different cultural customs can make things weird sometimes.
I immediately text Garcia asking how she found that picture. I don’t even have that picture out in the digital universe.
At once I receive, Aunt Marisol :) Mental reminder to hack my aunt and yank all childhood photos from her social media.
Hotch looks down at his phone, and Spencer is in the front seat so I can’t tell if he’s checked his messages. I feel my cheeks warm, my face flushing.
“I take it you both met in childhood then?” Hotch asks. Great, he saw the picture.
“Yes sir, we lived in the same neighborhood and we were in the same class until the 4th grade,” I answer.
“When did you two meet then?” Hotch asks again.
Spencer answers this time, “We met when we were about 3 years old. Our fathers were friends. We were close until Y/N and her family moved away when we were 12.”
“Spending your entire pre-adolescence together most likely led to an extremely close friendship, would you say that was your experience?” Hotch asks again. It’s strange how formal he’s framing the questions, almost like an analysis more than common curiosity.
“Definitely, Spence was my whole world.” I answer as Spencer says, “Very close.”
Now, I’ve made this whole situation far more awkward than necessary. Hotch parks the SUV and I hop out before they have a chance to catch up. I need coffee yesterday.
Daniel greets me as I enter the station, “Good morning Y/N” He greets.
“Hi, Daniel.” Reading my mind Daniel asks me, “Would you like some coffee?”
“God, yes, please. Lead the way.” I turn to see Hotch and Spencer walking through the door, Hotch is bombarded with people approaching him.
I follow Daniel to the station’s very sad and tiny kitchenette. Thankfully, fresh coffee is being brewed. I grab an obscene amount of sugar and pour it into a coffee cup.
“That’s a lot of sugar.” Daniel comments. I pour the coffee into my cup.
“What can I say I like sweet things.”
“You’ll just love me then.”
“Detective Lang, are you flirting with a federal agent?” I ask teasingly. He is rather handsome, however, he lives clear across the country. I can’t exactly tell if he's playing flirting like Morgan or actually interested in me which would be a first for me.
“That would depend on if you’re flirting back Agent Y/L/N.” I feel myself blushing again.
“Excuse me” I hear an agitated voice behind me.
Spencer.
“Oh sorry” I move out of the way. Coffee in hand, I say, “I really should get to work” I gesture to the conference room and walk over as Spencer huffs into his coffee.
I open the door and see that Hotch has put up crime scene photos. Dead women lying on sheets of paper. All of them hurt and broken. Under each photo is a name: Josephine Lennox, Elizabeth Cruz, Juliet Feria, Anna Thompson, Daisy Levi, and Catherine Jacobs.
God, Anna Thompson’s eyes were open. I think I’m going to be sick.
I sit down, my back to the board. If I see them staring at me, I might throw up. I take a deep breath and open the next box of texts. I need to do everything I can to make sure that this doesn’t happen to another woman.
Hotch gets a phone call and then says to me “I’m needed at Juliet Feria's home, I’ll be back later. Call if you if you find anything.”
“Will do” I reply. I’m trying not to actively shake. Spencer walks in and sets down his coffee, Hotch says goodbye to both of us and leaves. I’m staring down at the table, trying to erase those women from my brain. I’d rather remember them alive and smiling. As people, not bodies left somewhere. I’m not sure which is sadder.
Spencer sat down across from me. I keep my eyes focused on the table. I shut my eyes trying to erase Anna Thompson’s.
“Y/N, are you okay?” Spencer asks. I shake my head. I open my eyes and look at him, he catches what’s on the board behind me and realizes what’s wrong with me.
“Sometimes you forget not everyone is used to the things we see on a daily basis,” Spencer says. He reaches across the table and grips my hands in his.
I squeeze back. While his hands are bigger now, there’s a comfort in holding them like I used to do all those years ago.
“I don’t know how you do this. My first case and I’m already losing my cool.” I scoff at myself.
“If you didn’t care enough to be upset, I’d be worried about you. You’re strong enough to do this job.”
I let go of his hands, the warmth leaving me. I take a deep breath in and out and return to the pages. “Thank you,” I whisper.
“Always” Spencer replies.
Together with Spencer, we translate the non-English quotes. I find a Pablo Neruda quote, “I love you as certain dark things are to be loved, in secret, between the shadow and the soul.” in the Elizabeth Cruz pages. Spencer makes note of a Korean proverb, “ A widower knows a widow’s sorrow” in Anna Thompson’s pages.
Unsure how they connect to the specific victims it’s difficult to know why these women were picked without more information within the victimology.
“These translations look like something you would get from the internet. I don’t think the unsub actually knows these languages. There’s nothing to indicate fluency in anything other than English. Typically, there’s evidence of connections in the language.” Spencer notes after we’ve been reading for a few hours.
“Do we know if Anna Thompson is a widow?” I ask Spencer.
“Call Garcia?” Spencer suggests. I sigh and pull out my cell phone and search through my contacts. I hit dial and put it on speaker.
“The great and powerful oracle at your service. What do you need beautiful?” Garcia’s voice shines through.
I decide to play along, “She who is fashionable and all-knowing can you tell me if Anna Thompson was a widow by any chance?”
“Y/N darling I already love you no need to talk sweet nothings to me.”
Spencer rolls his eyes. I hear her typing away on the other side.
“Anna Thompson was widowed when she was only 20, her husband died in a car accident 2 months after they were married. High school sweethearts…” Garcia sounds so sad as she relays the details of Anna Thompson’s tragedy.
“The unsub knew that she was widowed… Garcia, have you found anything linking everyone yet?”
“Not as of yet but I’ll keep on looking. What are you thinking?”
“Can you check credit card history to see if they frequented the same book stores or social media groups related to literature?” Spencer asks.
“I’ll hit you back. Stay magic you two. Garcia out.”Garcia hangs up the call.
Spencer and I roll our eyes.
“I think the unsub actually crossed paths with our victims. Being a widow doesn’t exactly come up in casual conversation right?” I ask Spencer.
“You may be right on that and seeing as it wasn’t mentioned in Anna’s recent social media it can be assumed that it was something she told the unsub or he overheard.”
Feeling not any closer to the conclusion that we were yesterday I feel defeated. Now it’s the late afternoon and Hotch has brought the team lunch so we can eat while discussing the profile.
I don’t know how everyone in the BAU is so fit when clearly fast food is what they usually eat in cases. Maybe they have a team workout system, how do I get in on that? I would kill for JJ’s waistline.
“Y/L/N we asked about the books and it turns out all the victims were avid readers,” Rossi says as he’s picking at his french fries.
JJ chimes in, “We’re going to catalog the books they owned so you can see if there’s any overlap.”
I nod, lost in my own thinking process. There’s something reaching out for me in all this, I know it. I just haven’t seen it yet. Spencer’s hand creeps over to my food and he swipes a fry from my pile. Keeping my eyes on everyone, I reach over and snatch a curly fry from Spencer. Jerk is taking my fries when he has his own special ones. I guess people don’t change that much.
I listen as they all discuss the final profile for the police department. As time crunches down, we know the unsub will soon be abducting another woman. A white male in his late 20s to mid-30s, physically fit, appears non-threatening, and clearly hates women. He’s unable to form personal relationships with them and that’s why he kills. His need to kill has mixed with a delusional centered around literature. Particularly romance. He might even think he’s in love with them before he kills them.
I fight the sickness I feel when I recall how many men like that I’ve encountered in my life. After we’ve finished eating, an officer brings in a list of the books the victims owned. Spencer grabs the list and in seconds he’s scanned the entire thing.
“They are a few overlapping titles, but all six women actually owned: Little Women, Pride and Prejudice, Romeo and Juliet, Anna Karenina, The Great Gatsby, and Wuthering Heights. Hold on a second….” Spencer announces. He pulls out his cell phone, the rest of us lean forward expectantly waiting to see where his genius brain is going.
“Garcia hi, could you please check the recent book purchases across all six victims? Is that right? Okay thanks, Garcia”
He hangs up the phone. “Well?” Rossi asks.
“No evidence of recent purchases of any of those titles.”
Prentiss chimes in, “We’re missing a connection.”
Hotch rises and throws away his food, “It’s time to deliver the profile.”
Everyone gets up and throws away their food. Cleaning themselves off and getting ready to present in front of the entire department. I stay behind organizing everything on the tables. Hopefully, with the book club connection, we’ll be tracing it to an unsub soon.
I open the blinds and watch as everyone takes their part in delivering the profile. They command the entire department, every officer and detective fixated on the BAU. I feel like a creep peering in on them but it’s like watching superheroes in action. I see Daniel writing down notes as he listens intently. When it’s Spencer’s turn to speak he talks mostly with his hands. Spencer turns his gaze away from the crowd for just a moment and settles his eyes on me. Shit. I’ve been caught, I quickly turn around trying to pretend he didn’t catch me staring at him.
I reach into the Catherine Jacobs box and peer over the pages again. It’s more of the same nonsensical ranting this one angrier than the previous I’ve read. “Watch me, wave me, pass me down the street. The lights in your hair, in your eyes, I know you see me there. Glass lights reflect me, you are mine I know you are you hateful bitch. Whatever our souls are made of, yours and mine are the same. You’ll see.”
“Souls…” I say aloud. I know that quote. It’s not a direct quote but I know it. But from where?
Spencer walks back in first, I look at him and I know. I grab him by his jacket excitedly I quote, “He’s more myself than I am. Whatever souls are made of -”
“His and mine are the same” Spencer finishes. Everyone else in the room is confused. JJ breaks the silence, “What are you doing?”
I let go of Spencer and turn around, “It’s from Wuthering Heights. Do you know the Emily Bronte novel? It was published in 1847 under the pseudonym Ellis Bell as it wasn’t common for women to publish under their own names at the time. It’s the tragic tale about two childhood best friends torn apart by anger and class issues. Ultimately it ends in toxic relationships with all involved with their relationships being resentful and almost everyone ends up dead….” I’m rambling. Everyone is staring at me wide-eyed. “What I do?”
Rossi answers first, “My God there’s two of them.” I look around confused. “I’m lost.”
Morgan rubs my shoulders, “Don’t worry about it Mami, why is Wuthering Heights relevant?”
I hold up the sheet and show Hotch, “It was in the Catherine Jacobs pages. Catherine is the female protagonist in the novel. This might be the connection.”
Spencer grabs the Romeo and Juliet quote from the board, “Wasn’t this in Juliet Feria’s pages?”
I nod. Hotch looks at both of us, “The women he targets share their names with a central literary character. I’ll let the detectives know.” The rest of the team files out to liaise with the other officers to try to come up with some new leads now that we have some sort of way the unsub is selecting his victims and how they’re connected.