surrender, criminal minds [ 2 ]

021. proof

Madelyn walks out of the elevators, focused on her phone as she texts Jasmine about Lanie's new dance class.

"Hey, Mads." JJ greets. Madelyn glances at her and Emily. "We missed you at girls night. You didn't text us back."

"Oh, yeah, well, you know, kids." Madelyn brushes them off, walking off.

"And she hates me too." JJ sighs.

"Same with Reid. Don't worry about it. Least not too much, she's been giving the cold shoulder to Hotch, too." Emily says.

"Yeah, I, uh... I think she's pissed at everybody." JJ winces.

~ ~ ~

Most of them are sitting at the round table room.

"I am having a Fellini Festival at my house this weekend and I must serve the beautiful food of his country." Penelope says as she walks into the room with a plastic container of food.

"Maybe you should show a Disney film and stick with burgers." Rossi says making Madelyn chuckle.

"You know, Rossi, you could always gives Penelope a cooking lesson." Derek suggests. He earns a glare from Rossi and excitement from Penelope.

"Oh, my gosh, that would be amazing." Penelope says. "That would be like-- that would be like the Iron Chef meets the BAU. And we could do it at your house."

"I don't have a house, I have a mansion." Rossi says.

"All right, let's get started." Hotch says as he takes a seat.

"Oh." JJ pushes the remote towards Penelope, motioning for her to continue.

"All right, Mes Amis." Penelope stands up. "You are jetting to Durant, Oklahoma, because in the last 3 days, two women have been found dead after being sexually tortured and then blinded with a sulfuric acid solution."

"Abby Elcott is our first victim, 19 year old art student. She was headed to campus for an advanced drawing class. She'd been missing for two days. Same goes for our second victim, Beth Westerly, 17. She had just finished her coffee shop shift and was on her way to a bar method class."

"Both low risk victims." Emily says.

"And physically similar." Derek adds.

"How close are the abduction sites?" Madelyn asks.

"5 miles apart at bus stops." Penelope says. "Abby's cell was found near one, Beth's scarf near the other."

"Where are the dump sites?" Spencer asks.

"One in an alley, the other in a field." Penelope says.

"So he stapled their eyes open, then he blinded them." JJ says.

"It's about power and control. Maye he didn't want them to watch while he hurt them." Derek says.

"Or it could be about shame. Perhaps the unsub is disfigured himself." Spencer says. "Blinding the victims leaves them helpless, lost, totally dependent. It may be a manifestation of how he sees himself in this world."

"It is a form of enucleation, just without the scalpel." Emily says.

"His face is the last they see before darkness." Rossi says.

"Garcia, come up with a list of jobs that would give the unsub access to sulfuric acid. The rest of us, wheels up in 30 minutes." Hotch says.

+++

They're on the jet and Madelyn is sitting on one side of the couch while Spencer sits on the other end.

"Victimology is very similar. Blonde haired, blue eyed teenage girls." Hotch says.