1 | Undeniable Chemistry [S. Reid]

xxvii. cobalt

"IS THAT ELLIE?" WILLOW asks as she walks into the briefing room with Emily and Spencer right behind, a wide smile on her lips as she sees Derek texting someone.

"She texts me every morning on her way to school." Derek hums, making Willow nod. The two kept in contact with the girl, she texts Derek in the morning and calls Willow at night.

"How's she doing?" Emily asks, as they all sit down around the table.

"Well, she's already got herself a bff named Jill, and she thinks she wants to play soccer." Derek explains, making Emily smile happily.

"She's adjusting. That's good." She muses, just as Hotch walks in.

"Bristol, Virginia. The body of 25-year-old Jenny Delilly was found yesterday. She had been tortured, sodomized, and electrocuted before being forced to make a goodbye call to her parents. Her body was then dumped off Elden Street. A week ago, the body of Kara Kirkland was found in the same area having suffered identical injuries." Hotch explains quickly as he hands them all a file and shows pictures on the screen.

"This reminds me of the butcher case." Derek admits, making Emily look up.

"Why does that name sound familiar to me?" She asks Hotch.

"The butcher was a sexual sadist that killed 20 women in the same area of Virginia from 1984 to 1993 and then vanished. He tortured blond women in their 20s that lived in or near Bristol." Spencer explains, as he leans a little forward, mainly so that he could take Willow's hand under the table.

"That was one of Rossi's old cases, isn't it? Does he know?" Emily asks, just as footsteps approach from the behind Willow and Spencer, making them turn around. "Some vacation. Did you get any sun?"

"I never got any anything." Rossi says, as he puts a box down on the table, making Willow raise an eyebrow.

"Do you think the butcher's back?" Willow asks him, making him look down at her.

"I doubt it. We profiled him as a white male in his late 40s back then. He'd be in his 70s by now." Rossi answers, as he looks over the team.

"Didn't you almost catch him?" Derek asks the older FBI agent.

"In the spring of '93, we narrowed the geographical profile. We alerted every blonde in their mid-20s in Bristol and the surrounding counties. The pressure got so intense, the killings just stopped." Rossi answers, making Spencer tilt his head.

"Well, the Copelands killed into their 70s. This could be him coming back." Spencer points out.

"It's probably a copycat. If he's emulating the butcher, he could just be getting started." Hotch says, with a final nod. Willow hesitantly let's go of his hand as she starts packing up her stuff. "Wheels up in thirty."

"Got it." Rossi says, as he and Hotch are once again the first to leave, while the others close their files and stand up.

"So what did you guys do on vacation?" Derek asks as they all walk out together, going towards their desks to get their bags.

"Nothing much." Emily hums, as she looks at Derek, before looking at Willow and Spencer with a knowing smile. "The really question is what did you two do on vacation?"

"Us? Nothing. We just watched Star Trek." Spencer says innocently, making Willow blush slightly as she picks up her bag and they make their way to the elevator.

"Throughout the whole vacation?" Emily asks with a raised eyebrow, making the two look at each other with slight wide eyes.

"Yeah. Something like that." Willow nods, trying to seem convincing as Spencer takes her hand in his, once he got his bag. Emily and Derek look at each other with a smirk, before they all make their way to the elevator.

"Alright, whatever you say, love geniuses. But I'm pretty sure you didn't spend a week just watching Star Trek." Derek says, making the two blush as the elevator goes down. "And by the end of this case. I will have proof."

"And I'll help him." Emily says as they get out of the elevator and make their way to the airstrip. They walk into the jet, putting their bags, before taking their seats. Willow and Spencer sit next to each, while Emily and Derek sit across them, and Rossi and Hotch sit on the couch next to them.

"All right, let's go over victimology." Hotch says, making Spencer straighten up and he opens the file.

"Both Jenny Delilly and Kara Kirkman were single professional women. Jenny had just gotten a job as a Web designer, and Kara worked for a nonprofit." Spencer muses.

"Each woman was taken from a populated area with no witnesses. Jenny from a crowded drugstore parking lot, Kara from the back patio of a ground-floor apartment when her roommate went inside to answer the phone." Emily concludes, making Derek tilt his head questioningly.

"Why not take the roommate?" He asks, looking at Hotch and Rossi.

"She's brunette. He prefers blondes." Rossi answers the questions.

"These vics were forced to make phone calls. Jenny left a message, and Kara spoke with her fiancé." Emily says, making Willow frown slightly.

"Garcia, were you able to trace the calls?" Hotch asks over the build in intercom of the jet, that somehow is linked to Garcia's tech room. Willow didn't understand how it worked and she could ask, but she'd rather keep it a mystery.

"My pretties, they're using disposable cells, so I'm coming up empty." Garcia says apologetically.

"We do have a timeline, though." Derek points, making Willow as she looks down at the file.

"According to the M. E.'s report, both victims were dead for about 3 hours before they were found, which means based upon the times of their messages, they endured 5 additional hours of torture after making their goodbye calls." She says, pulling the hand that is still holding Spencer's, a little closer to herself.

"It wasn't enough that he caused his victims pain and suffering, it extended to their parents as well?" Spencer asks rhetorically, as he slowly starts rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb.

"Rossi, were the phone calls the butcher made his victims leave similar?" Emily asks as she looks at Rossi.

"Yeah, but the content varied. 13 vics left answering machine messages for loved ones, 5 actually talked to someone before they died, and two reached no one." Rossi explains to the dark haired woman.

"But didn't the butcher make his victims end their messages by saying they were enjoying it?" Emily asks everyone this time.

"That was the signature." Hotch answers monotonously.

"Wouldn't that make a sadist flaccid?" Willow asks curiously, with a frown.

"It wasn't about him. It was about the parents. He wanted to make sure that they knew he had complete control and dominance over their daughters." Rossi explains to the youngest member.

"All right, Crawford, Morgan and Prentiss, go to the M. E. We need to compare ritual and M. O. Rossi, Reid, and I will interview the families and go over the messages." Hotch instructs the team.

"Rossi, what's in the box?" Derek asks, as he nods towards the box that had followed onto the plane.

"Evil."