Warnings: heavy angst, talk of rape, child rape (ten years old) by multiple men, not being believed about it, trauma related to rape, canon violence, canon language, canon talk of death, methods of kill, fluff and angst
Author's Note: I really hope you guys accept what I have done to the reader in this story. It will all be relevant in later seasons. Though, please let me know what you think!
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Naturally, you sit next to Spencer on the flight over to Mexico. You two decided to play cards to pass the time with this being only a seven-hour flight. You two are sitting at the small table in the middle of the plane with JJ sitting across from you two, Hotch and Gideon are sitting on the small couch, and Elle and Derek are in their individual seats.
Hotch looks kind of sad, but you're not sure why. Maybe something happened at home. You know he has a small child that he really wants to spend time with, and maybe his wife is sad that he is leaving. Whatever it is, you know he isn't happy.
"Hey, at least you get to spend your birthday weekend in Mexico," JJ points out.
"It's Hotch's birthday?" you whisper to Spencer, and he just nods.
"Yeah, what's dog-house in Spanish?"
"La ca-sa del pair-O," Spencer says, butchering the language with his American accent.
"La casita del perro," Elle corrects, her Spanish perfect.
"That's what I said."
"Face it, chico. You're only a genius in English," she chuckles.
"You speak Spanish? Since when?"
"I'm full of hidden mysteries."
"Alright, so why are there so few serial killers in Mexico?" JJ asks, bringing the conversation back to what's important.
"They probably have as many as we do, but they document almost none of them."
"Why is that?"
"It's the Chikatilo syndrome," Gideon answers.
"The what?"
"Andre Chikatilo–" You and Spencer say it at the same time, and you both just chuckle at your eagerness. He motions for you to continue, and you just smile at him. "He's one of the most prolific serial killers of the 20th century. By the time they found him, he had killed more than fifty people. He was no more experienced than any average serial killer, but he lived in Soviet Ukraine. The Soviets were convinced that the serial killer is uniquely an American phenomenon. The inevitable result of decadent capitalism."
"So, what's the cultural bias in Mexico?" JJ wonders.
"Many Mexicans believe that serial killers are the result of the breakdown of the family, which gives rise to the kind of alienated loner who becomes a serial killer," Hotch answers.
"It's a fact that there are twelve times as many broken families in the US than in Mexico."
"Alright, so is it possible that there are fewer serial killers in Mexican culture?"
"It is possible," Gideon says, "but, in my experience, evil is not a cultural phenomenon. It's a human one."
By playing cards with Spencer the rest of the plane ride, the time flies by you very quickly. You're in Mexico City before you know it. It's a small town that has a lot of culture and history and being someone with your abilities, you get to see just how much reward and consequence go on in this town. The Mexican police is waiting for you when you arrive at the small station. There are people all around, just walking and observing, but you're not here for them.
"Agent Gideon," the head officer greets.
"Captain Navarro."
"You're shorter than I remembered," he laughs. "This is Lieutenant Borquez."
The officer next to him nods his head welcoming.
"This is my team," Gideon motions to all of you. "Captain Navarro has been put in charge of the case by the assistant attorney general."
"You guys got history?" Derek asks.
"We met at a seminar I gave in Mexico City a few years ago."
"Sexual Homicide in Latin America. I just read a chapter on the subject in Max Ryan's book. I'm glad you all came. I was never sure how much you liked me," he chuckles.
"Why is that?" you ask.
"I've often told agent Gideon that his profiling technique would not translate accurately in Latin culture without a better understanding of our cultural values."
"Now is a good time to find out, right?"
"Uh, Captain," JJ interrupts, "I'd like to get a handle on the type of press this has been getting and meet some of the local police here."
"Of course, but I imagine you would all like to settle into your rooms and rest before we go?"
"No, we're ready to go."
"Alright then."
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Your entire team along with Navarro and Borquez head over to the latest crime scene in two separate cars. You, Spencer, Borquez, and Derek are in one car with the rest in another. The crime scene is next to a cemetery, so when Borquez pulls up to it, you can see just how much culture is around this place. The entire cemetery is decorated for "Day of the Dead". While you love the idea of this holiday and the appreciation that surrounds it, the spirits that linger aren't the ones people hope are there.
You get out with a sigh and scan the entire area. There are a few spirits lingering around the place, all with sad and somber faces, wishing they could find peace and move on. That's the thing with your ability, you can only see the spirits that are stuck in limbo. The ones that have moved on have no business on Earth anymore, therefore, you can't connect to them.
"Can you see them?" Spencer asks when he approaches you from your right.
"Yeah, but it's not the ones they wish were here. I'm sure their loved ones come to visit, but I'm not able to pick them up. They have already passed on, and I can't connect with what's already gone. However, the ones stuck in limbo, I'm able to grasp onto."
You shrug and cross your arms as you slowly head over to the crime scene.
"What is all this?" Derek asks, motioning to the cemetery.
"Dia de Los Muertos," Borquez answers.
"Day of the Dead is a three-day Latin holiday where souls of dead relatives are said to return to earth to enjoy the pleasures that they once knew of," Spencer explains.
"It sounds like he was reading that out of a book," Borquez mutters to Derek.
"No, trust me. He always sounds like that."
"Actually, I was reading. I picked this pamphlet up at the airport."
You giggle and head over to the house to join the rest of your team.
"As profilers, I thought you'd want to see the crime scene first, before meeting the suspects, yes?" Navarro asks the team.
"You remembered something from my lecture, huh?" Gideon chuckles.
"Actually, I got it from your mentor, Max Ryan in his book. It's a great read. The victim's name is Lupe Trejo, sixty-two. She was found in the bedroom by the daughter. No sign of forced entry."
There are a lot of people walking around the house, like some type of service was just let out or something like it.
"Are there are always this many people around?"
"No. Church just got out. They're walking home from the town square."
"What time was she killed?" Gideon asks.
"I'm guessing some time during the evening mass. There wouldn't have been a lot of people around. Otherwise, he would've been seen."
"Unless he blended right in," you note.
"Let's go."
Navarro leads the group into the house. It's a small house with a lot of trinkets. This feels like a friendly home that people love to come over to. It's honey, comfortable, and has good energy about the place. However, when you walk in, you're confronted by two different kinds of energies.
One blue and one red.
"No forced entry means one of two things," you state. "A push in, which means he holds a knife or a gun to her and forces his way inside."
"The murder weapon–the knife–was taken from the kitchen and placed at the scene," Navarro says.
"In that case, then it's most likely that she let the killer in voluntarily. She looked through the peephole and saw someone she recognized, someone who makes her feel safe."
"She lets him in and then what?" Gideon wonders.
"They have a drink?" Spencer says, holding up a glass that looks like it has some kind of liquid in it. You're not sure what kind, though. "Hey, did you run a DNA analysis on this?"
"The closest thing we have to a crime scene unit is Detective Hernandez. He has a fingerprinting kit from 1984."
"Find anything?"
"The victim's prints were on one. The prints on the other one were too smudged to make any match, but I don't think the killer drank this anyway."
"Why not?" you ask.
"This drink is tamarind water. It's sweet. I could see the victim offer this to a woman, but these are family festivities and at night, most men will have a shot of tequila, some beer, and maybe some cigarettes. This looks like two women to me."
"That's not true," you say. "There are both male and female energies in this house. Lupe emits soft blue energy, but the unsub radiates angry red, which indicates that a man was in here, and he was pissed."
"How do you know this?" Navarro asks.
"I'd like to introduce you to our on-call psychic," Derek jokes.
"You're a psychic?"
"An empathetic one, yes. I see things that hopefully no one else sees. I was born with it. I just have antennae strong enough to pick up on energies that spirits have left behind for us to find–ones that are still stuck in limbo with unfinished business. It's a giant pain in the ass sometimes," you laugh.
"We could use someone like you."
"Well, that's what I'm here for. I know you said a man doesn't drink this type of beverage, but this man did."
"Get them to the FBI," Spencer says. "At the very least, they'll be able to tell us the gender of the drinkers."
"What, you don't believe me?" you tease.
"N-no, I just–"
"I'm teasing, Spencer," you laugh. "You need proof. I get it."
"Where was she killed?" Gideon asks.
"This way."
Navarro leads you, Gideon, and Spencer to the back bedroom where she was killed. This is where the blue energy is the strongest considering this is her bedroom. There are a bunch of trinkets and pictures of her and her family. This woman loved her family very much, and it clearly shows. Gideon starts looking around the room, in and out of drawers and through her things.
"What are you looking for?" Navarro asks.
"Why did the unsub choose this victim? Why did she feel safe enough to let the killer inside?" He searches through her top drawers and finds pictures of a young man. A young man who isn't present in any of the pictures that are hung up and on display. "Is this her son?"
"That's Miguel."
"I'd say Lupe had a problem with him. She has family photographs everywhere, but not of Miguel. He's tucked away in her drawer," you note. "Why is that?"
Navarro looks like he's hiding something, but you don't call him out on it. Usually, people who are hiding things look and feel guilty, but he seems excited that you asked that question. It's like he's waiting for... something to happen. Gideon leaves the room and the house, and you and Hotch follow him out to see what he has to say about everything going on.
"You are almost certainly looking for a heterosexual male."
"Why do you say that?"
"Well, the victim was found on the bed with multiple stab wounds to the face, chest, and genital area–all indicators of sexual homicide. In case it's a sexual homicide, the attacker targets objects of his or her sexual attraction."
"Heterosexual men attack women," you state.
"So, homosexual men attack men?" Navarro asks, and Hotch nods.
"Did the daughter have any ideas about who might have done this?"
"She didn't have any ideas about anything. When she found out that her brother was a suspect, she wanted to talk to him alone. I refused because I didn't want them to get their stories straight. Then she stopped talking completely."
"So, what's she protecting?"
"We're ready to talk to the suspect."
"Of course, but first there's someone I'd like you to meet."