𝓶𝓪𝓻𝓪 𝓳𝓪𝓷𝓮 ➢ 𝓼. 𝓻𝓮𝓲𝓭

𝓉𝓌𝑒𝓁𝓋𝑒

Nightmares plagued Mara's night with the reminder of her childhood but she awoke on time to meet Reid and Rossi at a new crime scene.

Her hair was still wet from the shower so she left it down, something she normally wouldn't do. Having her hair out of her face was almost as vital as having a gun on her hip.

Once she was dressed and ready, she met the two agents in the lobby downstairs. Morgan and Hotch were waiting on Emily, Morgan's eyes watching Reid as the new agent moved from the elevator.

Mara's eyes met Reid's and she was suddenly back in that elevator from the previous night, fully engulfed by his brown eyes. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest as she walked up to the group, a small smirk presenting itself on Reid's lips.

He was enjoying this.

Mara opened her mouth to say something but Morgan stepped forward, twirling a piece of Mara's hair around his finger. "The first time we've all seen you without your hair up."

She rolled her eyes, tucking it behind her ears. "Don't point it out."

"It looks great, Tate." Morgan chuckled, throwing an arm around her shoulders.

Finally, Emily appeared from the elevators, going on about someone using all the hot water before following Hotch and Morgan to one truck, Mara following Reid and Rossi to another.

"It really does look great." Reid commented from next to Mara.

She looked up at him and met his eyes. "Thank you."

She could help but think: Reid hadn't taken this kind of interest in her until she told the team about who she really was. Being the kind of genius he was, was he just trying to find about more details about what it's like to be a victim of the Fox?

It was true, she was the only survivor of Paul Fox. She was the only person people could learn from. Ben's face flashed through Mara's head as she glanced at Reid, wondering if he was doing the same thing.

Reid sent her a gentle smile but she turned her head back to the front and kept it there, not acknowledging the doctor.

They arrived at the crime scene, which happened to be in a ditch. They met Beeks at the scene. "He dissected the victim's arm postmortem. I think it's our guy."

"Just one victim?" Reid asked as the detective nodded.

They moved down into the ditch, Rossi taking Mara's hand to help her down when it was him that needed the stability.

"Who is he?" Rossi asked, looking at the dead victim, arm bloody from where the UnSub had dissected him.

"Louis Hannum. 41 years old, well known local reverend. He closed the church after a canned food drive at six last night," the agent explained. "Told the other volnteers he was taking the donations to the Salvation Army."