❛ 𝑪𝑶𝑳𝑫 𝑨𝑺 𝑰𝑪𝑬 ❜
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•☽.⭒✻❙ 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐗 ❙✻⭒.☾•
𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒖 𝒉𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒂 𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝒗𝒂𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏
❝ 𝐰𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐝. ❞
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𝑩𝑹𝑨𝒁𝑰𝑳
𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒏 𝒎𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒏𝒏𝒂
❛ he talks like an angel, but he looks like me ❜
𝑉𝐴𝐿𝐸𝑁𝑇𝐼𝑁𝐴 𝑊𝐴𝑆 𝑃𝐸𝐴𝐶𝐸𝐹𝑈𝐿𝐿𝑌 𝑊𝑂𝑅𝐾𝐼𝑁𝐺 at her desk, just trying to get some of her paperwork filled out. Spencer was even across from her and neither of them were getting on each other's nerves. She had gone on a date with Morgan's friend, Lance, last night so as soon as Morgan got in the building, he rushed over to Valentina, anxious to know how it went.
"Tina!" Morgan spoke in a sing-song voice. Valentina averted her gaze from her work and scrunched her nose, knowing exactly what was about to happen. Morgan sat down on the edge of her desk and the girl spun in her chair to face him. "So, how'd it go?"
"Why don't you ask Lance, he's your friend." Valentina pointed out, not really wanting to talk about her date. It wasn't that it went bad, it went well, she just didn't feel a connection.
"Oh, I did talk to Lance and he said it went well. Aaannnnd he likes you." Morgan explained with a wide smirk on his face.
"He said that?" Valentina asked. This was when Spencer got involved. "You sound unsure."
"Reid's right. What, you didn't like him?" Morgan questioned, not seeing the issue. Lance was tall handsome and in the same line of work as Valentina along with the fact that he's interested in behavioral sciences and a genuinely nice guy. Lance and Valentina had a lot in common and seemed to be a perfect match on paper, but Valentina really wasn't feeling it.
"I mean, it's not that I didn't like him. He's a nice guy and he's cute, but there was just no...spark? I guess, I don't know." Valentina tried to brush off the conversation. She was hoping that they could let this go since her dating life was the last thing she wanted to talk about at work. Luckily for her, Gideon came to the rescue. "Everyone in the briefing room, we got a case to go over ASAP."
"Oh well, no more Lance talk." Valentina spoke falsely as she immediately stood up from her seat. Morgan did, however, try to bring the conversation back, still curious as to what Valentina's issue with Lance was. "No, no, no. We are not done this conversation, young lady."
"Such a shame. Duty calls." Valentina spoke quickly before rushing to the briefing room. Spencer and Morgan did follow behind, but both were becoming exceedingly more curious about his date she went on. Valentina was being secretive for a reason they couldn't place a finger on, but in their eyes, it wasn't like Valentina to be mysterious.
The BAU all met with the briefing room, where Gideon gave them a very short introduction. "Crawford family. Murdered three days ago. They were found in the basement of their house."
"Bags packed for a vacation they never took." JJ finished the quote, but Morgan had some questions. "Reporter said it was a murder-suicide? The father stabbed them all and then shot himself?"
"That's the conclusion Maryland State Police came to. The gun was found next to the father, he had gunpowder residue on his right hand." JJ explained, Morgan questioning her once more. "And you must have some compelling reason to think that Chris Crawford didn't off his family?"
"Yeah." JJ responded. "Another murdered family, the Millers, found a month ago. The mother, Reese Miller, her two children and her new husband. Again, they were found in the basement, and like the Crawfords, their suitcases were packed for a vacation."
"Both cases, the bodies were discovered five days after their vacations were supposed to have started." Gideon pointed out, JJ having her own argument to make after. "Yet the coroner determined that they had been dead only twenty-four hours."
"So for four days both families remained in the house." Spencer clarified just before having Gideon add onto his clarifications. "Locations of the bodies in both cases, the basement. That indicates a level of organization."
"With a quick but disorganized application of overpowering force." Morgan explained, Valentina dding on. Their conversation was finally being moved away from her dating life and they could actually focus on their jobs. "If these aren't murder-suicides, someone is doing a really good job of making them look like it."
"Possibly this man: Eric Miller. Biological father of the Miller children. Arlington PD issued a BOLO for Miller after the bodies were discovered." JJ explained as she put the mugshot of the man in question on the table in front of everyone. Gideon looked over the file and noticed something else about him. "Ex-wife Reese Miller had a restraining order against him for domestic violence."
"When did she get remarried?" Valentina asked without taking her eyes off of the file in front of her. "The week before they were killed."
"Usually wives and children are viewed as property by violent husbands. Reese Miller getting remarried was possibly his trigger." Valentina made known, her theory being brought to light, to which JJ had some information to add onto it. "Well, the Virginia cops finally located Eric Miller last night responding to a drunken disturbance at a motel, where Miller had been hiding out. When they found him, they discovered blood on his black leather jacket. It belonged to his children."
"Was any of his DNA found at the Crawford house?" Morgan asked, Gideon shaking his head. "No."
"Did he know the Crawfords?" Spencer queried, JJ responding this time. "If he does, he's not saying. In fact, he hasn't said a word since his arrest. The Arlington PD have asked us to interview him."
"If anyone could apply overwhelming force, he's your man." Spencer pointed out with a nervous tone, the simple image of this man scaring him. Gideon saw this as an opportunity; an opportunity Spencer would not like. "I want you to find out. Talk to him."
Spencer's gaze shot up to his superior with fear in his eyes. "Y-You want me to talk to him?"
"Yeah, you've done interviews before with other agents running point. You can go solo." Spencer itched his neck nervously. Valentina laughed and pointed at him as a taunt since he obviously didn't want to do it, but she celebrated a little too prematurely because Gideon said, "Actually, Valentina, you go with him."
Valentina threw her hands up in disbelief as Spencer smirked at the girl, the irony amusing him. Valentina lightly wacked his arm, which only earned a small laugh from him. Spencer and Valentina continued to be paired together for cases, which could get tiring at some point and the team was eager to learn if they could work well with someone else, but Spencer and Valentina had been proving to be a dream team. Why separate them?
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It made the most sense to have Valentina interview Miller since it plays into her specialties. She can manipulate her behavior and personality to fit the person she's talking to so she can earn their completely trust while also deceiving them. Valentina understands human psychology so well that she could quite literally turn into anyone, but still, Spencer was the one doing the interview.
Hotch and Elle had gone with the two, Valentina and Spencer being in charge of the questioning. Spencer was going to take the lead on it, but Valentina was in the room in case this man escalated.
Both Valentina and Spencer walked into the interrogation room, Spencer with about a million files in his hand while Valentina stood back at the door with her arms crossed. Spencer introduced the two. "I'm Dr. Spencer Reid, this is Dr. Valentina Barnes, we're from the FBI. We'd like to ask you a few questions if you don't mind."
"You got something you wanna ask me, boy, you look me in the eye and you ask." The man spoke in a menacing and deep tone. Spencer sat down across from him and began to open a file just before clearing his throat. "Three days ago-"
"You're not looking at me." Miller interrupted. It took Spencer a second, but he moved the files away from him and looked the suspect dead in the eyes. "Three days ago, the Crawford family was murdered."
"Is that right?"
"Did you know them?" Spencer asked, the man immediately becoming defensive. "What're you getting at?"
"They were killed in the exact same way that your family was killed." Spencer pointed out as he put a photo of the wounds from the Crawford family bodies in front of Miller, but this really didn't phase the man. "And? I've been slapped around all night by every cop in Virginia. Now what makes you think a damned photo is gonna scare me?"
Spencer went quiet. He really didn't have an answer and he was scared out of his mind. Miller took his silence as an insult. "Is that what this is about, hm? You think I'm crazy, man? You think I suddenly snapped an I slaughtered my own wife and kids? You think I did this, huh?! Is that what you think?!"
Miller was starting to get violent and angry insanely quickly. He had even gotten to his feet, which caused Spencer to do the same and back up in fear. Valentina immediately stepped in and, with a stern tone, ordered, "Sit down. Now."
"Who's this? Your girlfriend? I'm done talking to you people." Miller insulted her, but Spencer was prepared now. "You don't have to talk. Just listen. On the occasions you assaulted your wife, you were intoxicated. Once the effects of alcohol wore off, you were overcome by feelings of remorse."
"I'm gonna tell you this just one time, you shut your mouth!" Miller yelled as he tried to lunge forward as Spencer, but Valentina stepped in front of the him and pushed Miller's hands away. She was really only there for Spencer's protection considering this man was considered erratic. "Genetic factors contribute to alcohol-stress interactions. Your mother was an alcoholic and she was often too drunk to stop the beatings that your father gave you. Aged six, you were orphaned to a family where the abuse continued, only this time it was sexual."
"You shut your mouth, or I'm gonna rip your face off." He threatened with seething anger. Valentina quickly shut the threats down. "Touch him and you go straight to jail."
Spencer continued on. "The abuse continued well into puberty. But my one concern is, Eric, did you or did you not continue the cycle with your own children?"
"I never laid a hand on my children. You hear me?" The man spoke, his voice becoming more desperate. "I hear you."
"I found them like that. Dead. Bloodied. My babies. My sweet babies." Miller began to cry, his pain being too much to bear. He sunk back down into his seat, which let Valentina move back, but Spencer's face softened with sympathy for the man. "I was crazy out of my mind, I didn't know what to do, and I knew the cops were gonna blame me, and they have."
"So you ran?" Spencer asked. "So what have I got now?"
"You have your innocence. For the sake of your children, I believe that they, at the very least, deserve the truth." Spencer explained, the deep sympathy and emotion he felt for the man present in his tone. "I can't get the image of my dead children out of my mind. Ty, my little boy, he was clutching a piece of paper. I think it was a drawing, maybe a painting. Please, I'd love to know what he painted, Dr. Reid."
Spencer sent him a small nod before him and Valentina walked out of the interrogation room. Just as they were about to join Elle and Hotch in the viewing room, Valentina nudged Spencer's arm, who then looked over at her. "Nice job."
"Thanks." Spencer let a small smile twitch, but it didn't stay for long. The two walked into the room, to which Elle immediately questioned him. "Interesting interrogation technique. What'd you hope to accomplish?"
"Miller was closed off, defensive, hostile. I needed a way in. He suffered a breakdown, but I don't think he killed his family, and I know he still loved his wife." Spencer explained, earning a confused glance from Hotch. "Why do you say that?"
"Even though they were divorced, he still wore the wedding ring." Spencer explained. Hotch nodded, showing some encouragement to Spencer since he did do quite an impressive job.
The team had stayed at the station, but JJ, Gideon and Hotch met them back there. Morgan and Gideon had some new information that they felt was necessary to give to the group and a new theory that Gideon had worked up. With everyone sitting around the table, Gideon began to voice his theory. "I believe the unsub had control over this family. He may have separated each family member. He tells the mother, 'if you scream, I'll kill your children.' He tells the children, 'if you cry, I'll kill mommy.' The suspect found a way of restraining them without leaving marks. Based on lividity, the ME estimates that the father was the last to die."
"Which means he witnessed the whole event. If he did spend time with both families, he must have known he had the time to spend with them." Morgan added on, Spencer having even more to continue with. "Because he knew they were going on vacation."
"Look at travel agents, relatives, work colleagues, contract workers, children's tutors." Gideon ordered, having a solid train of thought on the kind of unsub they were working with, connection wise.
Suddenly, the phone on the table began to ring, to which Valentina answered and put on speaker phone. Hotch's voice came from the other side. "Gideon, we've been looking into the Crawford financials."
"Allison Crawford spent way more money than Chris could afford. They were in major debt." Garcia spoke. They really didn't have to go far for this case, which was always nice, but it never made them feel safe in their neighborhood. The only good thing was no long plane ride and getting to sleep in their own bed.
"And Chris Crawford wrote a number of cheques for a series of visits to a therapist." Hotch informed before Garcia continued his statement. "She had two cell phone accounts. One of them billed to a separate address in Southeast Washington, D.C."
"Did you get that?" Hotch clarified, earning a positive answer from Gideon.
The man in question turned to Valentina once the phone was hung up. "Valentina, how would you like to have your case in the field?"
"Wait, are you serious?" Valentina spoke with shock. She and Spencer had just gotten their guns this morning, but Spencer's been in the field before, Valentina hasn't. She was looking forward to it considering all she's been wanting to do since she was freed from her nightmare was help people in her situation, now she'd get the chance to do that.
"You think you're ready?" Gideon clarified, needing to make sure that Valentina wasn't going to be jumpy, but she felt great. "Yeah. 100%"
"Alright. Everyone gear up." Everyone set off to the weapons lockup so they could get their bulletproof vests. In that very room, as Valentina was putting on her vest, Morgan was next to her and decided to bring up the nerve-wracking elephant in the room. "How do you feel about being in the field?"
"I've wanted to do more since I got here, so pretty good." Valentina informed as she began to tie her hair up so it wouldn't be in her way. Morgan didn't quite buy what she was saying, but there was some information about Valentina that he didn't have. "You know, I was nervous before my first time in the field. There's no shame in it."
"Then I guess I'm just more courageous than you, Morgan." Valentina informed lightheartedly as she patted his shoulder and walked by him. Valentina has seen much worse in her life. From being kidnapped and held in a basement for four years to having to deal with the aftermath, Valentina has seen much worse. Some criminal wasn't going to scare her.
The team had moved to the address they were given, Spencer, Hotch, Gideon, Elle, Spencer and Valentina were all on the case. They stood outside the house, all prepared to move in. On Hotch's count, Morgan broke open the door and they all rushed inside. Hotch, Elle and Morgan all moved to one room while Spencer, Gideon and Valentina went to another. They heard the one group yell 'clear', so Gideon yelled back, "Clear!"
There was no one in the house, so they all put their guns back in their holsters and began to investigate. The house was dirty, messy and smelled horrible, even to the point where Valentina saw a huge dog bowl and scrunched her nose. "How is that the cleanest thing in here?"
Gideon had found a child's painting, but it was much more colourful than the last one that Gideon had found at the Crawford house. Spencer and Valentina looked over his shoulder and saw the painting. "It's a child's painting. It's a colonial house. Mom, dad, two children out front holding hands and a big dog. I think this is the Crawford house, it's signed by Emily."
"Strange. Eric Miller said he found his son clutching a painting. He wanted to know what was on it." Spencer pointed out, but Valentina was curious. "What was on it?"
"His son's blood." Gideon informed just before they suddenly heard a dog barking. Valentina, Spencer and Gideon all rushed to where they knew Hotch, Morgan and Elle were and had their guns ready. At the end of the hall, they saw an extremely large man standing in the shadows with the Crawford family dog. They were face to face with the possible unsub.
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Luckily enough, the man they had found went peacefully and quietly. He was being held in an interrogation room with the BAU just outside. They were all going over the case quickly so that when Morgan went in, he could question this man, Frank Crawford, properly.
"Hotch, I think Tina should go in instead." Morgan suggested as he put the file down on the table in front of him. Valentina looked up from it, slightly confused, so was Hotch. "May I ask why?"
"Based on our information, that man in there has some serious mental health issues, not to mention that he's erratic. Valentina's a licensed therapist, she's the expert in human behavior and she can manipulate her own behavior. She's got the best chance of handling someone like this." Morgan explained, to which he had a fairly good point.
Valentina looked up at Hotch, fairly confident that she could handle this along with Morgan sticking up for her. Hotch took a second to think, but no one blamed him considering Valentina has only been in the BAU about a month and has never done an interrogation alone, but Hotch had confidence in Valentina. Truthfully, he's never seen anyone become so comfortable and established in this job as quickly as Valentina has.
"Alright. But because of his size against you, I want Morgan and myself waiting just outside in case he gets out of control." Hotch compromised. He had faith in Valentina, he knew that she had the capability to handle this man, but because he has over a foot of height over her and immense strength, she could get beaten down pretty easily.
Valentina took a minute to go over the case once more before she walked in. Frank was sitting, fiddling with his hands and Valentina walked in with the painting in her hands. He immediately asked, "Why am I here?"
"I think you know why, Frank." Valentina spoke in a soft tone as she put the painting they found at his house on the table in front of him. She already knew that this man wasn't going to respond to violence or a dominant personality, so Valentina was trying to make herself as equal as possible. "That painting's mine."
"The colours show self-confidence with an outgoing personality. It shows an above-average intelligence. The child that painted this was left-handed. Emily Crawford was left-handed." Very suddenly, Valentina tossed his container filled with his medication at Frank and he caught it with his right hand. "You're not left-handed."
Frank looked down at his hands in shame, completely scared to be in this situation. "Frank, you need to know that I'm not against you in any way. I'm here to help you, I just need to ask you some questions. Are you okay with that?"
Frank nodded his head, but his gaze never left his hands. "How'd you get the painting, Frank?"
He remained silent, so Valentina continued on. "Did you forget to take your meds today? For a severe manic-depressive, that's not good."
"They made me feel wrong." Frank responded with a small voice. "Wrong enough to do something bad?"
Frank nodded his head as his face contorted slightly. He was trying to keep himself from crying, but it wasn't working. "I shouldn't have gone to the house. Allison told me not to. I would never, never hurt Allie. She's the only family I've got."
"Family?" Valentina questioned, that word being news to her, but Frank cleared that up. "She's my sister...And she's dead. She's dead...He killed them. Chris did, I know he did."
"Frank...what bad thing did you do?" Valentina asked again, trying to get this incredibly important information out of him while still remaining calm. "The rule was, I was never supposed to go to the house. That was the only rule. Allison said if Chris saw me he would never let me see her again. He was gonna lock me up in the loony bin. He never liked me."
"You went to the house..." Valentina brought the conversation back since Frank seemed to be getting off track with his anger. "She said she couldn't visit me anymore. I just wanted to see her. Seeing Allison made everything better. But they cut my phone off that day. The day I went to see them, they cut my phone off! I never would've gone to the house if they hadn't cut off my phone!"
Frank was starting to get incredibly fed up, which was when Morgan and Hotch almost went in, but they stopped when they saw Valentina take the man's hand in hers. "Frank. Frank, it's alright. Just take a second."
Valentina began drawing small shapes on his palm, which distracted his subconscious and helped him calm down faster. "Take a deep breath."
She and Frank took a deep breath together before he pulled his hand back, feeling better or at least more calm. Once he was alright, Valentina continued on with the interrogation. "Frank, you went to the house. What did you do?"
"It was dark and cold. I went around to the side to look through the window. My breath steamed up the glass and I wiped it clean. and I could see them sitting down for dinner. I saw Emily and Sam. And sam was crying. I guess he was in trouble." Frank explained, Valentina having more questions. "Did you see Allison?"
"Yes. She was saying grace over the table and then she looked up and saw me and she mouthed something at me. I think it was, 'get the hell out.' So I left." Frank described his experience, but Valentina still had more things to ask. "Did Chris see you?"
"No, he wasn't there, but a friend was at the head of the table." Valentina furrowed her eyebrows with slight suspicion. "A friend?"
"I saw someone." Frank shrugged his shoulders. "What did this person look like?"
"I didn't see their face, but tiny, really tiny." Frank explained, yet Valentina still had to dig deeper into this lead. "Were they white or black?"
"I don't know, but...the hair, it was red." Valentina averted her gaze for a second. She needed to make sure that what she was about to tell him wasn't going to backfire, but it was difficult to do so. "Could it be possible that Allison was saying 'help me' instead of 'go away'?"
"Wait...It wasn't a friend. It wasn't a friend at all. It was him. He's the one who killed them." Frank suddenly flew to his feet and held his hands to his forehead. Valentina got to her feet as well, but backed up since she knew she couldn't talk this down. That was when Hotch and Morgan rushed into the room and had to physically hold Frank back so he wouldn't hurt anyone. Hotch ordered Valentina to get out of the room, which she did immediately.
Valentina had to wait only a few seconds before Hotch and Morgan got outside. Valentina immediately spoke. "I'm sorry, Hotch, I tried-"
"Valentina, it's alright." Hotch interrupted, knowing immediately that she was going to feel guilty, but she did more than anyone else could've. "We got the information we needed, no one can talk him down from that. You did good."
"Thanks, Hotch." Hotch nodded, giving her some reassurance before he joined the rest of the BAU in the viewing room for the interrogation room. Just before Morgan walked in, he put a comforting hand on Valentina's shoulder. "You're good at your job, Tina. Don't doubt yourself."
Morgan was just about to walk in, but Valentina stopped him. "Morgan."
He turned back to the girl and saw the clear hesitation within Valentina. "Do you think I'm actually qualified to do this job?"
"Of course. Why are you asking?" Morgan questioned as he crossed his arms. "It's just that...when I was talking to Lance, he was telling me about all this work he put in. I mean, everything with the academy and college beforehand, even with high school. I never did any of that, I was recruited for an interview because of my studies. I'm not...I'm not ready for stuff like this, I wasn't taught. I'm the oddball on this team and it's showing."
"It's really not, Tina. You deserve to be here. Why are you talking like this? Where is this coming from?" Morgan asked with concern. All he had ever seen from the girl was confidence, but this insecurity seemed completely out of character for her.
"I told Lance about the FBI and what I do, which he seemed interested in. And it was nice. No one ever really cares about what I do for work except the people I work with, so it was nice to have someone actually listen, but then he started questioning how I got there. I mean, all I did was some research and the FBI wanted to recruit me. I don't feel like I belong here-" Valentina was starting to spiral a little. It was common for new recruits to do this since this is a demanding job and one with a lot of pressure, but Valentina so far seemed to be handling it fine. This is outburst Derek could tell was the cause of her bottling up her worries.
"Tina, hey, it's alright." Morgan cut her off, trying to get the girl to calm down as he put his hands on her shoulders. "Believe me, you are an incredible asset to this team. You controlled a man with violence issues by talking to him. Your expertise is something we desperately need and not to mention that now you can work in the field. Tina, do not doubt for a second that you are valuable to the team. And even if you couldn't do this job, we need a translator for Reid."
Valentina let out a small laugh, which brought a smile to Derek's face. "I know this job is stressful, but believe me, Tina, we need you on this team. Now, we should go take a look at those paintings. There could be something there."
Valentina nodded her head and followed Morgan out into the briefing room where the evidence was being kept and everyone else went out to the main room to get some more work done.
Valentina and Morgan were looking at the two paintings, Valentina analyzing every little line as Morgan began to think out loud. "Both families had a dog and both houses had a dog door."
"Fielding said that the person he saw was small." Valentina pointed out, her eyes never leaving the colourful painting. "Yeah, well, in order to get through that door, you'd have to be 5'4, tops, and real thin."
"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbably, must be the truth." Valentina quoted Sherlock Holmes, which earned a confused look from Morgan. "Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character. Whoever did this isn't."
"But it applies. And we can be pretty sure he's probably found himself another family already." Valentina pointed out. Morgan nodded his head, agreeing with the girl.
Soon after, the next morning, Valentina and Morgan were back in that same room. Valentina's focus was still on the paintings in front of her. Morgan noticed how focused she seemed to be, which was slightly odd to him. He looked between her and the painting before finally saying, "I sure hope you see a connection because I've checked doctors, lawyers, travel agents, tutors, contract workers; I got nothing."
"I'm just wondering, why target those families?" Valentina thought out loud, luckily, Morgan having a way to figure that out, or at least generally. "Well, to know that, we have to know how. We know organised killers are often skilled workers with above-average intelligence. A high birth status, and in most cases, male. In the workplace, he's socially confident. And with women, sexually competent. Every offence is pre-planned. Targeting the victim is almost as pleasurable as the actual kill. These guys, they're meticulous. It's a compulsion. Everything has to have its proper place. They do exhaustive amounts of research on their victims. They watch their every move. Every last detail is observed. Everything has to be written ever so neatly in a book or possibly a journal. Like when the kids are coming home from school, when Daddy will be home. Playtime, suppertime, bath time, bedtime. Plan the work, work the plan. This is the way that he maintains control. It's also how he personalizes his target. So, nothing's left to chance, and absolutely nothing is left out of place. Ever. So, he plans the work. And when he's good and ready, he works that plan. He takes great pride in his job. I think the workplace has to be the connection."
"You're definitely right and thank you for going on a tangent because it got my brain working. There's this technique used in child psychology in where they get children to paint what their family looks like. It tells us a lot about how they perceive their life, so both of these are by Emily just painted months apart. One is full of colour and life while the one Gideon found at her house has lines, dimensions, no colour. Emily was probably coerced into painting this on. It's a point of view. It's his point of view. This is where the killer stood and just watched the family." Valentina explained.
"Well, each one of the dead husbands was missing his wedding ring. That has to be the unsub's trophy. He targets a family because he lost his own, and for a few days he gets to play daddy. And he can do whatever he wants because no one's gonna come looking because they're supposed to be on vacation." Morgan guessed with Valentina continuing the theory. "The suspect may have worn the father's clothes, to complete the fantasy, but the fantasy can't last, so he kills them..."
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Gideon, Hotch, Elle and Morgan were all going out to question some people who knew both the Millers and Crawfords. Valentina and Reid had stayed back to work with Garcia since they needed to find out some things about therapy. Once Morgan and Valentina told the rest of the team about the paintings and what Valentina had deducted from them, they all knew that the families and the unsub must have something to do with therapy.
Spencer was sitting on Garcia's desk while she was at her chair and Valentina stood next to the man with an arm around his shoulders. It was odd that he was letting her do this considering his distaste for germs, but Valentina made sure that it was only fabric ever touching.
"We've got to stop meeting like this, Valentina. People will talk." Garcia teased the girl, but this was all their relationship was. Valentina added onto the joke. "But then, talk is cheap."
"Not when you're talking to a therapist." Spencer spoke on topic. "The Crawfords made twelve weekly payments to the Applewood Family Center. What about the Millers?"
"No, nothing here." Garcia responded after a quick search.
"What about pharmaceuticals?" Valentina suggested with Spencer adding on. "Yeah, no one gets therapy these days without a healthy dose of medication."
"What are you implying, Spence?" Valentina questioned as she looked down at him. He looked up at her as well. "That everyone is medicated."
Garcia looked up at him with an impressed look and a genuine smile made its way to Valentina's lips. Garcia put a hand over her heart, feeling so overly happy as she asked, "Did you just make a joke?"
"No. Statistics. They show that-" Spencer began to ramble on, but Valentina cut him off. "Spence, shut your perfect mouth. Next time just say yes."
"You know, Reid, I'm surprised you're not cowering from human touch. Aren't you a germaphobe?" Garcia teased him considering he was open to Valentina being near him. Valentina took advantage of that. "Spence just loves having me around."
"Love is a strong word." Spencer moved the suspicion away, but Valentina was still teasing him. "And it's a strong feeling that you feel for me, don't you, Spence?"
"Can we please focus on the case?" Spencer moved the conversation back, to which Garcia only smiled and shook her head at the two younger doctors. The BAU quite honestly has been getting a lot of amusement from Spencer and Valentina's friendship. She breaks him out of his shell while also completely understanding him. It's a unique relationship, but a fun one to watch from the outside.
"Medication normally requires a reimbursement from the HMO and since she works for the government like you two and myself, we share the same health care provider." Garcia informed as she was tapping away. Valentina furrowed her eyebrows confusingly. "Are you hacking into the government's HMO database? Is that legal?"
"Of course not. We'll all go to prison and Reid'll be someone's bitch." Garcia informed, which offended Valentina slightly. "And not me?"
"Oh, honey, I very strongly believe that you could be the leader of a prison gang." Garcia complimented, which earned a smile from Valentina. "Garcia, you flatter me."
"I know." Garcia said with a small smirk before catching onto their lead. "Right there. Good call, Valentina. Mrs. Reese Miller, Diazepam."
"Who prescribed the meds?" Spencer asked, Garcia taking a few seconds to figure it out. "Dr R. Howard at the Applewood Family Center. Let's find out what he looks like. Here we go."
Garcia pulled up a picture of the doctor, but there was a small twist. "Dr. Howard isn't a he..."
•☽.⭒✻════◅∘≼↜.◦◦.↝≽∘▻════✻⭒.☾•
After Gideon, Hotch and Morgan had all gone to see the doctor that Garcia, Spencer and Valentina had found. Whilst they were questioning her, they found out that the man they needed to find was actually Karl Arnold. They found out that he had his own family that was taken from him and he was going after a family from Dr. Howard's work.
Gideon, Morgan and Valentina had all gone to where they figured the unsub would be while Hotch had gone to his own home to see if he could find the wedding rings that are the trophies Arnold had been keeping.
Morgan broke down the door and the three FBI agents along with the local police they had brought with them rushed inside. The family sitting at the dining room table, clearly in distressed, immediately freaked out and pointed them in the correct direction since Arnold was in the house.
Morgan, Gideon and Valentina all went downstairs, which was where they were told to go while the police cleared the rest of the house. "Karl? Karl, it's the FBI."
They could hear the heavy breathing of the man from downstairs, so as they slowly made their way, he was in the light of their flashlights. Karl was crouched on the ground with a baby in his hands and he slowly stood up once he saw the FBI. Gideon tried to reason with him. "Karl...Why don't you give me the baby?"
The man's eyes went right back to the baby, but they desperately needed the baby away from him, which is what Gideon was trying to do. "Karl, I want you to look at me. I'm gonna put my gun away and I want you to hand me the baby."
Gideon slowly put his gun in his holster and held his hands out. "Hand me the baby."
Very slowly and cautiously, Karl began to walk towards the FBI agents. He held out the baby to give to Gideon, but at the very last second threw the baby at him. Gideon, thankfully, caught the baby. Karl had a knife in his back pocket, which he immediately grabbed and tried to stab Valentina to get out of this mess.
Karl cut Valentina's arm, but she grabbed his wrist and wacked his arm, which was a pressure point and made his arm go limp. She pushed the man back which gave Morgan the opportunity to lunge at him himself. Derek pushed the man to the wall and turned him around to cuff his hands as quickly as he could. Thankfully, he did so quickly.
Morgan and Valentina were proving to work together fairly well, especially in the field. Gideon and Hotch were taking notice of that.
When they brought back Karl Arnold to the FBI building, Morgan was the one bringing him to the interrogation while Gideon was rushing to get the first aid kit for Valentina, who walked over to her desk. Valentina's arm was bleeding a significant amount, so when Spencer saw the blood all over her arm, he immediately rushed to help her. "Val, what happened?"
"He cut me, but I'm fine. Can you help me roll this up?" Spencer walked around his desk and immediately tried to help her. He rolled up her maroon button up sleeve to which he saw a deep cut.
Gideon rushed back and gave her the first aid kit and a towel. Gideon began to clean off the blood around her cut for her as Valentina was getting the stitches ready. "Here, give me the stitches. I'll help you do them."
"No need." Valentina turned down as she stuck the needle right through her skin. Gideon and Spencer were slightly disturbed by the fact she seemed so casual about doing her own stitches, but Valentina wasn't phased. Back when she was a kid, she had to stitch herself up after her kidnappers would hurt her. The only reason she never bled out was because she learned how to do it.
Valentina ended wrapping a medical bandage around her arm so that the stitches were safe and in case she bled anymore, she'd be alright. Gideon and Spencer were still insanely shocked, but glad she was alright. "Gideon, we should switch two of the pictures from the families."
Gideon averted his gaze for a second, considering that idea. Gideon realized what she was getting at and nodded. "That's smart. We'll do that, Valentina, join me in the interrogation room."
Valentina nodded her head and followed Gideon. They did quickly switch two of the pictures and Gideon and Valentina went into the interrogation room with the evidence board. Gideon sat across from Karl while Valentina stood behind.
"Emily Crawford was a very talented and gifted girl. Her brother, Sam, a bright, energetic child. You watched them for days, maybe even weeks. You learned everything about them. You studied their every move and then you wrote it all down." Gideon accused, but Karl didn't seem at all phased. He only looked up at Valentina and asked, "May I have a glass of water?"
"Something wrong?" Gideon questioned, but Karl only smiled. "No, I'm just thirsty."
Gideon looked up at Valentina, who matched his gaze. He sent her a small nod, which Valentina understood. She quickly left the room to get water. Valentina brought it back and she was immediately asked for another favour. "Could you remove my shackles? I'm clearly no threat to you."
"They stay on." Valentina strictly ordered as she put the water down in front of him. Karl drank it all as Gideon continued his questioning. "You chose families that reminded you of the one you lost. You stalked them, you bound them, you terrorized them, and then you killed them. One by one. We have your journals, Karl."
"It's my job to write everything down, to get to know them. I can't help them solve their problems without knowing background. I make home visits. Sometimes without their knowledge, because people lie. You, of all people, should know that. Eric Miller was an awful husband and father. Allison Crawford haemorrhaged money her husband didn't have. That can strain any marriage." Karl explained, but this was when Valentina had more to add.
Valentina put down a picture of Karl's family in front of him. "On the surface, this looks like a completely normal USA family. Two parent household, two kids, a boy and a girl. But if you look closer, the body language says otherwise. The mother and children are distant from the father. Their smiles are stiff, their eyes are frightened. Every hair is in place to look perfect, but their own private hell is being memorialized on film."
Both Valentina and Gideon could see that Karl was sitting uncomfortably and his gaze was behind them. Gideon tilted his head slightly and asked, "Are you okay?"
"It isn't right." He spoke through gritted teeth. "What isn't?"
"You've got the pictures mixed up! The one in the middle, that is Sam Crawford's. It should be Ty Miller's! You need to swap them. You need to make it right." Karl demanded. Valentina looked behind her and moved the two pictures he was talking about. "You're right. They are switched."
"Now, how did you know that, Karl?" Gideon asked, seeing as how they had just caught him red-handed. Karl's demeanor immediately shifted when he realized that he had no way out, so he gave in. "I watched them for a number of days. Always at night. Saw how they lives, how they loved. I would keep them apart until the last night, until the last supper. Then I would bring them, on by one, down to the basement. The youngest first, the father last."
"Why, Karl?" Valentina questioned. "So he could see what happens to families when the head of household isn't strong. Wives wither, children perish. But me, I'm an excellent father."
Valentina scoffed and shook her head. Excellent father was not a word that would be used to describe this man. The horrible things he did solely because he was jealous were unforgiving. Gideon and Valentina would gladly let him rot away in a cell.
It was a long day for everyone in the BAU, but they had the case solved and the man in handcuffs, but that meant they still had work to do. When Gideon and Valentina came out of the interrogation room, people were already working on paperwork, which is exactly what Gideon and Valentina went to do. As soon as the girl sat down at her desk, Morgan walked over to her. "Tina."
"Garcia's eye candy." Valentina addressed him, which earned a small laugh. "So...Lance called me."
Valentina averted her gaze from her work before looking up at Morgan. "I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that you don't want a second date."
"He's a nice guy and everything, I just don't think I could ever date someone that...you know, headstrong. Besides, he's not my type." Valentina explained, but Morgan just scoffed. "He's tall, handsome and British. How is he not your type?"
"I'm more into clumsy geniuses named Spencer Reid."
"Val." Spencer scolded from his desk, overhearing the entire conversation. "Yes, the love of my life?"
"You're tiring."
"I'm adorable. There's a difference."
❝ 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐱𝐞𝐬, 𝐰𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐱. ❞
- 𝒅𝒓. 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒔 𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒓
❘ ❙ ❚ ❚ ❙ ❘
NOW INTRODUCING...
•✿.⭒✻❙ 𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐀𝐇𝐀𝐍 ❙✻⭒.✿•
❝ 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠. ❞
aaron taylor-johnson