16. Gotcha, Gorgeous

A Chapter by halflives

*In Seattle, Washington*

*I’m standing just before the crime scene, in sunglasses. I’m dressed in the tradition dress coat, shirt, and pants, along with Reid’s polka-dot tie he lent to me, and my red, high-top converse*

Gideon: *gets out of the SUV and stands beside me* You know, they could have supplied shoes as well.

Me: People are awed by a converse-wearing agent-in-training. *winks behind sunglasses*

Gideon: All right. Suit yourself.

*Reid and Hotch emerge from the two front seats of the SUV. They, for some reason, had accompanied me to get changed. Reid is adjusting his new tie (since he gave me his old one), and Hotch is on the phone, his face as serious as ever*

Hotchner: You’re sure? *tinny voice replies* Okay, good work. Meet me at the crime scene in ten. *hangs up*

Gideon: Who was that?

Hotchner: Prentiss. She said that Detective Elroy’s father was killed in the warehouse twenty years ago.

Me: Murder?

Hotchner: It used to be an old shoe-making factory. He got caught in the machine and it pulled him right through.

Reid: *winces* Ow.

Me: What source is this from?

Hotchner: The Sheriff of this part of Seattle. Elliot Nathaniel.

Me: You’re sure he’s reliable?

Hotchner: You’re questioning the law enforcement?

Me: *shrinks back* Sorry, I was just--

Hotchner: No, it’s a good idea. Prentiss said that the four of them were unsure about the Sheriff and his Deputy.

Gideon: Like what?

Hotchner: The Deputy was the equivalent of a mouse, and the Sheriff was jumping all over him to share something he obviously didn’t want to share.

Reid: Only 15% of serial killers were part of the law enforcement at the time of their killing.

Gideon: Inject themselves into the case.

Me: What about the other suspect?

Hotchner: Detective Jennifer “Janie” Elroy.

Me: Injected herself into the investigation?

Gideon: You say it like a question.

Me: It could not have been by choice.

Reid: How so?

Me: *turns to Hotch* Do all detectives choose the case or do they get chosen FOR the case?

Hotchner: True, sometimes they’re picked. All right, we’re going to split up. Gideon, you and Reid go try and start the profile with what we have so far. Smith, I need you with me--

Me: Ooh, Hotch needs me~

Hotchner: --to inspect the body and talk to Detective Elroy.

Me: Oh. *is disappointed*

*Hotch and I part ways with Gideon and Reid, then we walk through the warehouse, putting on latex gloves as we walk down the hallways. I try to memorize the route in case I get lost again*

*We approach the body… and the Detective*

Hotchner: Come on.

Me: *grins* SSA doesn’t stand for Supervisory Special Agent, is stands for Super Sexy Agent.

*I hear Hotch chuckle, but I don’t see him, for his back to me. Yes, I have penetrated the humorless-Hotch barrier!*

*Detective Elroy is standing over the body, hands on her hips, her fingers also clothed in latex. We walk over to her and stand beside her, Hotch next to her, and I next to Hotch. We stare down at the body, mimicking her grave expression*

Hotchner: What have you found?

Elroy: Well, the wounds are essentially the same, but they’re more jagged, and less careful.

Me: Was he more rushed this time?

Elroy: AIT Smith? *I nod* Yes, they could have heard you coming.

Me: …I WAS pretty loud… *is embarrassed* *inspects my converse*

Elroy: *turns to Hotch* What do you think?

Hotchner: *says nothing, staring at the body*

Me: *nervously raises my hand* Can I say something?

Hotch: *nods*

Me: Could they consider women inferior?

Elroy: How do?

Me: The women have been cut and slashed, not to mention safety-pinned open to watch themselves die. Could this mean that the UnSub detests women?

Hotchner: Then how come the women are fully clothed?

Elroy: The shoes are off.

Hotchner: And untouched.

Elroy: Does this rule that the, err, “UnSub” is a male?

Me: Not necessarily. You said that these women filed for bankruptcy. This could be a woman a lot like her victims.

Elroy: You’re saying that the woman is in the same predicament as the victims?

Me: Or was. Maybe she already filed for bankruptcy, and felt it was the worst mistake of her life. Therefore, she punishes others before they could make the same mistake as she did. She might feels that she’s saving them.

Hotchner: Or maybe she not just punishing the victims, but also herself. Each times she kills another woman, she’s killing herself over and over again.

Me: But what about the struggle? There wasn’t one.

Hotchner: There’s obviously still items to the investigation we haven’t realized. *crouches down over the body, his clenched pressed against his lips* Call Gideon and see what he and Reid have dug up so far. Tell him what we’ve found out as well. I’m going to look over the body one more time.

Me: Gotcha, gorgeous. *walks outside*

Elroy: *I hear her ask Hotch “Gorgeous?”, and he chuckles in return, shaking his head. I think he likes me~*

*Once outside, I call Gideon*

Gideon: Gideon.

Me: Hey, it’s Smith -- God, I LOVE saying that -- I gots candy for you, but first you gotta feed the slot machine it’s money.

Gideon: Now you’re starting to sound like Garcia. *I laugh* Hold on, I’ll put you on speaker.

*I heart a slight click, then Reid’s voice, talking abnormally fast, chatters against my ear. Thank Goodness it’s slightly tinny because he’s far away or my head would have exploded from confusion. I do, however, catch that he’s saying something about drugs and a recent victim, Amanda Justin*

Gideon: *his voice is faded because he’s talking to Reid* Reid, it’s Smith.

Reid: *abruptly stops in mid-sentence* Oh, hey, Liv.

Me: *laughs* Reid, you’re calling me “Liv” now?

Reid: *is taken aback* I-is that’s all right?

Me: *laughs again* Yeah, of course, everyone calls me that. What’ve you got for me?

Reid: Well, the latest autopsy report on Amanda Justin states that the coroner found traces of a drug in her system. That means she was given drugs before she was murdered.

Me: That would explain why she didn’t struggle upon death. She was too drugged to know what was happening, but she could still see herself dying. Jeez, that sucks.

Gideon: It’s in the job description. What did you and Hotch find out?

Me: Well, Hotch and I reasoned that our UnSub is, in fact, a woman that’s in roughly the same situation as these women would be if they filed for bankruptcy and fallen through with it. In killing them, she’s killing herself over and over and over again, punishing herself and her victims for her own mistakes.

Reid: Makes sense.

Gideon: We could track this woman through the drugs. We know that she filed for bankruptcy. Based on the slash of her kills, we know she’s bordering on a breakdown. She could be doing this to try and keep herself under control as well.

Me: You call that UNDER CONTROL?

Reid: There are a lot more violent ways to try and keep yourself from exploding, or exploding itself. Actually, 40% of --

Gideon and I: REID!!

Reid: Okay, okay!

Me: What about the guard that was taken when I found the body?

Reid: The banging we heard when you wandered off?

Me: You don’t have to point it out!

Reid: Sorry!

Gideon: I’ll have Garcia check up on this guard and look through the drug information. In the mean time, we should get the team together and do a profile.

Reid: Who’s going to do the profile?

Gideon: You and I, along with Hotch, Morgan and Smith.

Me: *gasps theatrically* You want me?~

Gideon: If you’d be willing to. After all, you did figure out some of the key information.

Me: *fist pump* YES!

Gideon: Meet us at the station ASAP.

Me: Gotcha, old man.

Gideon: I AM NOT-- *is cut off by me hanging up on him*

Me: Yes, Gideon, you are~

prev chapter