❛ 𝑪𝑶𝑳𝑫 𝑨𝑺 𝑰𝑪𝑬 ❜
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•☽.⭒✻❙ 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐁𝐄 ❙✻⭒.☾•
𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒖𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒇𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒈𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒖
❝ 𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐝, 𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐮𝐞𝐥? ❞
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𝑻𝑯𝑨𝑵𝑲 𝒀𝑶𝑼
𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒐
❛ oh, just to be with you ❜
𝑉𝐴𝐿𝐸𝑁𝑇𝐼𝑁𝐴 𝐾𝑁𝑂𝑊𝑆 𝐻𝑂𝑊 𝑆𝑃𝐸𝑁𝐶𝐸𝑅 takes his coffee like she knows the back of her hand, but this is only because she makes him coffee everyday. She was just walking back to her desk with two mugs in hand when a tall, light haired man she had never seen before, but wouldn't mind seeing more of walked by.
Apparently, she wasn't the only one intrigued and confused by this mystery man since Garcia walked over to her and said, "Look at that Greek god of a man."
"I'm looking, I'm looking. Are women allowed to catcall men or is that frowned upon?" Valentina joked as Elle had joined them. She saw the two girls watching the man go by and she pointed out, "Oh, guys that's Hotch's brother."
"Is Hotch adopted or something?" Valentina asked, more genuinely. JJ too was walking by and Garcia stopped her by quite literally grabbing her arm. "JJ, look at Hotch's brother."
JJ too joined the three girls and her eyebrows raised in shock. "Wow. Is Hotch adopted?"
"That's what I said!" Valentina exclaimed as she stepped over to Spencer and handed him his coffee. "Spence, you may have some competition."
"What competition? I don't want to date you." Spencer pointed out as she put his coffee down on his desk. "You just keep telling yourself that."
"I really don't see it." JJ acknowledged as Hotch and his brother walked down into the bullpen. There was clearly something wrong and tension between the two since Hotch calmly said, "Sean, listen to me. All I'm saying is you're twenty-five years old and it's-"
"You know what? Don't profile me, Aaron!" Sean yelled before storming out of the BAU.
"Now I see it."
The BAU team really didn't want to get between a Hotchner family dispute since Hotch himself is enough of a drill sergeant, they didn't want to know what the rest of the family could be like. They all decided to leave it at that; not bring it up.
The team all went into the conference room where JJ had a new case for them, but crime never stops, so they'll always be a new case. "Terra Mesa, New Mexico. Five dead. All from Mesa University. No signs of sexual assault and no sign of theft. They were five nineteen year olds, minimal defensive wounds. One of them was impaled on a six-foot wooden pole."
"God, who'd want to torture five college freshman like that?" Valentina questioned with disbelief, finding the torture far too overboard. Morgan too found something off about this, "They weren't tied up and no one escaped? No single unsub could have exerted this much control over so many people."
"So, you think there was more than two?" Elle asked Morgan, to which Gideon agreed, "I think we're looking at a pack."
"A pack?"
"Three or more that kill in unison. As in nature, the group dynamic dictates tat the pack's survival is dependent on their ability to hunt successfully." Spencer explained, Valentina finishing off that definition. "And it's their nature to keep killing until it runs out of prey or is stopped; stopped by a stronger pack."
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Valentina, Hotch, and Spencer had gone straight to the crime scene when they landed. The rest had gone to the sheriff's station, but they needed someone out there meeting the sheriff. Once they had walked up to the taped off house, the sheriff met them outside and shook Hotch and Valentina's hand as Hotch introduced them, "Sheriff, I'm Special Agent Hotchner. These are Agents Reid and Barnes."
"I was hoping there would be more of you." The sheriff admitted, but Hotch reassured him, "The other agents went straight to the station house to look at victims' files. Has forensics had any luck?"
"The county CSU went through for prints and trace evidence. They said with all the workmen tramping through here, looking at footprints would be a waste." The sheriff explained before motioning for them to follow. The three FBI agents walked into the house, following through the home as Hotch thought out loud, "The bodies were almost completely skinned, yet, there's so little blood."
"I think I know why. The unsub avoided areas of skin on the wrist and throat, areas where the veins and arteries are closest to the surface." Spencer explained, which confused the sheriff, "Why would they do that?"
"They didn't want them to bleed out, which means these kids were skinned alive." Valentina responded which earned raised eyebrows from the sheriff and a deep breath, trying to take in what was just pointed out to him. They moved into another one of the rooms which had no furniture at all, only what Valentina observed, "Two cases of beer, two sleeping bags. Everything you need for teenage romance. Don't miss that at all."
"There's a third sleeping bag upstairs."
"It's unlikely that two couples brought a fifth wheel to take notes." Valentina pointed out, but Hotch did contradict, "Sheriff it's possible there was a third girl here. A sixth victim."
"I'll get my deputies to canvass the area. See if anybody saw the girl." The sheriff offered before Hotch wanted to move on, hoping to get the rest of the information, "You said there was another one outside?"
"Yeah, he was like the others." The sheriff began as he walked out into the backyard, the agents following him. "Coroner said from the amount of blood he was alive when they impaled him."
"I know this is going to sound strange, but the way the victims were flayed alive, mutilated, and now the impalement display of his last victim..." Spencer trailed off. Valentina tapped his arm, "Share with the class, Dr. Know-It-All."
"These were all war rituals of the Native American Plains Indigenous Peoples." Spencer finished his thought. Hotch turned to the sheriff and asked, "Does that mean something to you?"
"I'll say it does. Everything you see around us is Apache land. This whole basin is a sacred burial ground and was the site of a number of massacres as I understand." The sheriff explained, to which Valentina had to clarify, "So, this whole development is on their land?"
"It was their land, but they didn't have the money or the inclination to build on it. So the town seized half of it." The sheriff informed. Of course, Spencer had more to add, "Yeah, last year the Supreme Court rules that cities can use eminent domain authority to seize and repossess undeveloped private land for private development."
"And now the town is looking for investors to build on the other half. The Apache are fighting it, of course, in court."
"They really shouldn't have to, it's their land." Valentina pointed out, the sheriff wholeheartedly agreeing, "You're right, but a lot of folks here don't think that way."
"Has there been any violence until now?" Valentina switched the subject as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Nothing like this."
"Do you know anybody on the reservation who could be capable of this?" Valentina asked again, but the sheriff shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. The reservation's federal jurisdiction."
"Sounds like where we need to go. Valentina, call Garcia. See what she can find." Hotch ordered, earning a nod from Valentina. She pulled her phone out of her back pocket and put it on speaker as the sheriff went back inside. Only the BAU team was there and they needed Garcia's input.
They told Valentina what they needed, to which it didn't take her long to find. "Okay, one order of bad guys on the Apache reservation coming right up. Apparently, there was a militant group there in the seventies called the IRM."
"Any of them still around?" Hotch questioned. "No, but there's a guy on the reservation now who's been locked up more than a few times for demonstrations, resisting arrest, mostly political protest type stuff. Get this, his father was killed in a shootout with federal agents at Wounded Knee. His name, Benjamin Blackwolf. The son, John Blackwolf."
"Thanks, Garcia." Valentina thanked as she hung up the phone. Hotch, Spencer, and Valentina all went back into the house so they could find the sheriff. As soon as they did, Hotch only had to say one thing, "Blackwolf?"
"John Blackwolf?" The sheriff clarified, which made Valentina raise her eyebrows, "Do you know him?"
"He's an Indigenous activist. He's been in a little trouble related to his activism, but nothing violent. And not around here." The sheriff explained, which concerned Hotch a little, "Should we call the reservation police and alert them?"
"I don't think that's a good idea."
"Why not?" Spencer questioned.
"Because Blackwolf is the reservation police."
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Hotch, Spencer, and Valentina had gone out to the reservation nearby so that they could meet with John Blackwolf. Although, as they arrived, they met with another woman instead. Once they got out of the car, Hotch and Valentina shook her hands, Spencer still not liking that social construct, as the sheriff introduced them, "Jane Bear, these are FBI agents. Barnes, Hotchner, and Reid. Ms. Bear is the president of the tribal council and principal of the reservation school."
"A president and a principal? You must be pretty busy." Valentina observed, to which Jane explained, "We're out here on our own. We all do our part."
"Is John inside?" The sheriff asked, but Jane had her own questions, "This is about the Terra Mesa killings?"
"They just want to talk to him." The sheriff was referring to the BAU, and Jane was a little skeptical. But who could blame her when the government has consistently treated Indigenous peoples horribly. She tried to defend John, "John Blackwolf has done more to help this tribe than anyone. Hell, Jim, how many times have you called him in to find lost hikers? How many drunken campers has he tracked down for the park service? John is a peaceful man-"
"Who would not hesitate to defend this tribe with force if attacked." The sheriff interjected. Jane didn't seem to want to address that, so she simply crossed her arms and asked, "What does this have to do with Terra Mesa?"
"Well, a lot, if John considers the building of the Terra Mesa development on Apache land to be an attack." Hotch implied, which did hit home for Jane. "The developers have paid a lot of families to leave the reservation. So many families have gone now that we can barely fill a single class. Come on, I'll bring you to John."
The FBI agents and the sheriff followed Jane into the school. It was much more run down than they would expect, but the government has been very good at ignoring the Indigenous peoples. They are some of the most mistreated people in the world and they deserve a proper education.
They stepped into the room where they were able to hear part of John's lesson, "Forcing the Dene, the Apache nation, to abandon their homes and live in the government controlled internment camps. Does anybody know the last tribe to surrender to the American government?"
"Chiricahua." Spencer whispered under his breath. None of the children raised their hands and John didn't hear him, but continued his lesson. "It was the Chiricahua Apache. And does anybody know the name of the last leader of the Apaches?"
"Geronimo." Spencer whispered again, which earned a whispered retort from Valentina, "Smartass."
Spencer nudged her arm a little bit as one of the kids answered the same thing, which was right. John nodded his head, "That's right. He was caught by the U.S. army five times. But the Gahe had given him so much strength, he escaped each time. Now, Samuel, please tell the people from the FBI who the Gahe are."
"The Gahe are mighty spirits who dwell in desert caves." Spencer spoke just before Samuel could. Hotch, who never has a sense of humour, scolded Spencer, "Reid, is your name Samuel?"
All the children, including Valentina, laughed at the remark as Jane offered to take over the class. They wanted to speak with John privately, so the BAU and himself walked back outside where Hotch introduced them, "Mr. Blackwolf, I'm Agent Hotchner. These are agents Reid and Barnes."
"You two look like college students." John pointed out to Spencer and Valentina before looking right to Hotch. "You, you look like FBI."
"We're with the Behavioral Analysis Unit." Hotch explained, but that really didn't help their case with John whatsoever. "Profilers should know better."
"How's that?"
"We don't do massacres. You do." John already knew what this was about and he had a point. Hotch didn't want any tension, however, so he tried to make a point. "Me, personally?"
"Your government." John specified. There was clearly going to be some tension between John Blackwolf and the BAU, but who could blame him? For years, the U.S. government has treated the Indigenous people horribly. It's no shock that John has no interest in cooperating.
"Mr. Blackwolf, we'd like for you to take a look at these photos and help us figure out how these kids were killed." Hotch handed a file to John that he had with him, who didn't even need to open it because he had an observation of his own to make, "You're not asking because I'm a cop."
"We're asking because you're an expert on Native American culture." Valentina explained. He looked over to Valentina and Spencer for a few moments before turning right back to Hotch, not giving the young doctors the light of day. "I don't base my opinion on pictures, Mr. Hotchner. I have to walk the ground."
That's what they allowed him to do. Hotch, Spencer, and Valentina drove John back to the crime scene. As they were walking, Hotch wanted to make his own suggestion for the benefit of the case, "We should start inside. Forensics says the outside's been contaminated from all the construction traffic."
"Of all the Native American tribes, the Apache were most renowned for their tracking ability. It was said they could track a man or animal through any condition by simply noticing the slightest disturbance in the environment." Spencer informed, which only earned an insult covered by a cough from Valentina, "Kiss ass."
"It's profiling the dirt." Hotch argued, a little skeptical of John's ability to profile the world around him when Hotch believed it's no different than what he does.
"I notice you don't carry a gun." Spencer pointed out to John even though he was a reservation police officer. "Twenty-one feet."
"What?"
"Ask Agent Hotchner, he's the real gun hand." John motioned to Hotch, who felt like he had an idea of what this could be about, but wanted to see if he was right, "Why do you say that?"
"You carry two guns." Hotch knew that John was right and didn't really want to argue, so he just explained to Spencer what the number meant, "The maximum distance an attacker with a knife can close in the time it takes to react, draw your side arm, and fire is twenty-one feet."
"Inside twenty-one feet, I win. Outside twenty-one, I have other options besides shooting a man." John explained and Spencer felt like he was catching on, "Like negotiating."
"Like running." John corrected.
"Why do you say I carry two guns?" Hotch asked, curious to know how well John physically profiled him. "Your right instep print's heavier than your left. And since you don't appear to have a club right foot..."
"You can't tell that from my footprints. There's no perceptible difference between them." Hotch argued, but John had a good rebuttal for that, "Your problem isn't with your prints. It's with your perception."
The group moved to the backyard, which was contaminated like Hotch informed, but they still hoped that John could possibly find something they didn't or offer another viewpoint. As they walked along the back, John got his own view of the land. Once he got a good feel, Valentina asked, "What do you see?"
"There's a saying, 'Once too much blood has been spilled on the same ground, that ground develops a thirst for it.' This is all consistent with Native American warfare rituals. But it's not Apache. Whoever did this carried out the most brutal practices of the Apache, Navajo, Comanche, Pueblo, and Sioux. No one tribe ever did them all, not like this. Real Indians would know that. This wasn't Indians and if you want to figure out who did this, it might help to know there was a sixth person in the house." John gave her perspective, but Hotch questioned it, "Why do you say that?"
"Female. Ninety - Ninety-five pounds. Size six shoe, fallen arches. She was walking alone when she was ambushed by two men." John informed, to which Hotch pointed out, "We also believe there were at least three suspects."
"Three? Yeah." John proceeded to point, "Two over here, plus at least six over there. Because while these two carried this girl struggling to their vehicle to the east, at least six others ran single file to hide their numbers from the west."
"So, you're saying that there were eight?" Valentina questioned.
"At least. And one hostage."
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John had stayed to help give the profile since he still had expertise that was helpful for everyone. The BAU didn't want to risk getting anything wrong. Spencer did, however, start the profile, "Each torture ritual had specific religious significance, but only to the tribe that practiced it. It's highly unlikely that any one tribe would mix them all together like this."
"Meaning?" One of the officers questioned, Hotch responding, "Whoever did this obviously had knowledge of Native American culture, but they had absolutely no practical understanding of it."
"What we know is this pack shares a singular vision. Whether they share a religious faith, racist ideology, or political manifesto each member of this unit has surrendered its individual identity to the group." Morgan explained, with Valentina adding on, "We can find the nature of this pack by just the act of kidnapping. From the German Red Brigade, to the Munic Olympics, to Iraqi insurgents, the act of kidnapping is a characteristic of political terrorist groups."
"We could be looking for a domestic terrorist organisation like the Symbionese Liberation Army that kidnapped Patty Hearst." Elle explained. there were still some questions amongst the officers, "But these are Indigenous people, right?"
"I seriously doubt it." John responded, "The torture and mutilation you see here are very confused imitations of warfare practiced by Native American tribes."
"You trying to tell us that Indigenous people wouldn't be so brutal?" The same officer asked, Johns till responding, "No. I'm saying that Indigenous peoples wouldn't be so confused."
John was right, Indigenous people wouldn't have confused their own culture because it's their culture. Someone who was imitating them was clearly trying to shift blame.
The sheriff brought the BAU into his office to review was John had said. They left John out since they were discussing him, but it was only the sheriff who was skeptical. "Can we really be sure he's right?"
"Well, I'm fairly certain Blackwolf wasn't in on it. But you don't need to be Einstein to realize these people were Indigenous or they were people who made it look so." Gideon explained, but Elle was a little confused on the motive, "Why would anyone want to frame these people?"
"Maybe to turn public opinion against them?" Valentina suggested, which JJ solidified, "Sheriff, you mentioned the Apache were fighting the land grab in court. Tina's right, public opinion would be a significant factor."
"Is there anyone else besides the developers who might be vehemently opposed to the Indigenous getting the land back?" Hotch asked, hoping to find some sort of lead. Luckily, the sheriff had someone, "The ADU."
"Who's that?"
"The American Defence Union. Founded by a local businessman named Roy Minton. They're like the Minutemen who patrol the borders. Only these guys blame everything on the Indigenous." The sheriff explained before Elle asked a follow up question, "Who are the members?"
"Minton's people are mostly white construction workers, building supply vendors, working class people that believe the Indigenous peoples are standing in the way of progress and commerce." The sheriff responded, but Valentina knew this would be a very helpful lead, "Whether this group thinks the Indigenous are standing in the way of progress or profit, or maybe they're just genuine racists, Minton and the ADU are strong suspects."
"We need to bring him in." That's exactly what they did.
Hotch had asked Morgan and Valentina to question Minton to see if they could find anything about the killings that may suggest the ADU committed them. Normally, Hotch pairs Valentina with Spencer since they both have quite unique minds that work well together. Spencer and Valentina could decode anything or piece together parts of a puzzle far faster than anyone else on the team could. It's simply how out-of-the-box their thinking is.
Valentina and Morgan work very well together when it comes to intimidation. Morgan is a tall, strong man with a deep voice and just so happens to be an FBI agent, while Valentina's ability to manipulate her behaviour to not be voluntary or natural can help her frighten others.
The two were speaking to Minton inside of the sheriff's office, Valentina leaning on the desk with her arms crossed while Morgan was sitting in the chair. Valentina started the questioning, "Mr. Minton, do you have any idea who might be behind these killings?"
"The Indigenous have a history of violent behavior, especially the Apaches. Did you know that they used to kill white settlers? Decapitate the bodies, put their victims heads on wooden pikes outside their houses?" Minton pointed out, but Valentina argued, "And white people stole Indigenous land, killed them, put their children in residential schools where they were physically and sexually assaulted, created racially oppressive laws against them, ripped their culture from them, and sold children in the newspaper."
"Look, my family has been dealing with the Apache for a hundred and fifty years." Minton argued, but Morgan had noticed something about the way Minton was speaking, "You know, your rhetoric sounds just hateful enough to justify violence."
"We don't need to stoop to their level. We're fighting the Indians in court." Minton explained, but that wasn't a justification, which Morgan pointed out, "Is that right? Then why all the guns, Roy? Our records shot that your two-hundred members carry over four hundred and fifty firearms."
"We're simply exercising our constitutional right under the second amendment." Minton kept arguing, but Valentina scoffed at that. "The second amendment means that you can bear arms to defend yourself, not shoot someone because of their race. Four hundred and fifty guns is paranoia, not self-defence."
"Not anymore."
They let Minton go since they didn't have anything to arrest him on, they just wanted to get a layout of what the ADU was like. The BAU all gathered in the bullpen to exchange information, Morgan beginning since him and Valentina had the most relevant information, "If Minton's as fanatical as he pretends to be, he wouldn't file lawsuits or organise labour unions."
"The Indigenous are keeping Minton and the members of the ADU from making a lot of money on the developments and construction of the Apache Land." Hotch pointed out, which led to Valentina's conclusion, "Minton's using racist ideology to cover up greed. Minton should be put under surveillance."
"You guys think he's guilty?" The sheriff questioned, but Hotch elaborated, "Not likely, but we've just given Minton reason to believe that some faction of the ADU may have taken matters into their own hands and Minton may lead us to them."
Suddenly, Garcia had called Morgan, so he put her on speaker, "It's Garcia. Hey. What do you got?"
"I have a NCIC hit no one of the prints from the sliding glass door. Ingrid Greisen, nineteen years old. Family moved her two years ago from Texas where they require fingerprints for driver's licence applications. She wasn't among the victims on the scene."
"Okay. Nice job. Think we might have found our sixth victim."
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While the BAU team had gone to Indgrid's house, they found that she wasn't dead, only missing. However, the interesting part was that the people who abducted Ingrid were hired by her father. Both the men who had taken her willingly called the police and were in two different interrogation rooms. Spencer was questioning one while Valentina was with the other. She intended to be calm with this man since he was very willing. "Just tell me what happened."
"Peter Greisen hired us. He knew about our records, but he said he'd give us a chance. Two weeks ago he calls us into his office. He said he had some off-the-clock work for us." The man explained, but Valentina obviously had follow up questions, "What kind of work?"
"He said his daughter was in trouble. He said he wanted us to follow her, grab her, and take her to the motel." Valentina scoffed at his statement before responding, "And you didn't question his motives? I don't think I need to explain to you that abduction is an irreversible act that scars people for life."
"Of course we questioned him, but then he gave us half the money. And he said if we harmed her accidental or otherwise he'd make sure we'd pay for it." He explained, which Valentina was trying to wrap her head around, "So, Ingrid's father wanted you to kidnap her, but not hurt her?"
"Yeah. So we grabbed her, took her to the motel, and we called Greisen and he said he'd come by in the morning, but he didn't show."
"And the killings?"
"We didn't know anything about that. We saw it on the news the next morning. We called Mr. Greisen, he said hold tight, he'd come around in the afternoon, but he didn't show, so then the next night he's on the news. And he's talking about kidnappers and...Look, man, we may be dumb, alright? But we're not stupid. I made the call right then." The man very frantically explained, trying to seem like he was far more innocent than he seemed. Of course, he was walking a fine line. "So what you're saying is that coincidentally, you kidnapped the girl, but left minutes before someone else came and killed the other kids?"
"We didn't kill them kids. We was with her the whole time since then. You can ask her." He pushed. Valentina waited a moment, before getting to her feet. "I believe you. But you must know that you're still going to prison. You kidnapped a young girl."
"I-I know, but could you like...I don't know, say I cooperated or was willing or something?" He pleaded, but this caused Valentina to scoff. "You got the short end of the stick, I hate to break it to you. The agent that's questioning your partner is fairly understanding. Me, however? I kinda have a grudge against people who abduct young women and children. So, what I'm hearing is a man who took money from a father to kidnap his own daughter, hold her, and scare her, and you only turned yourself in when it helped save your ass from a murder charge. You're still a piece of shit. I don't help people who traumatise young women. Just be glad that I'm aware you didn't kill those kids."
Valentina walked right out of the room and into the back where Gideon was and informed, "You could have offered to help him. He was willing."
"He also kidnapped Ingrid. Believe me, I was as nice as I could have been." Valentina commented before she left that room as well. She and Spencer were both supposed to question Ingrid's father once they were done with the two men that were paid to actually take her.
Spencer finished his interrogation just after Valentina, so the two, with Hotch watching from behind the double sided glass, went in to question Ingrid's father. Hotch did stop them beforehand to tell them, "Guys, I want you to handle this interrogation with care. Based on how Ingrid's father was speaking to us prior, he's a reasonable man, but he can also crack. Valentina, you're probably angry enough, try to scare an answer out of him. Reid, be reasonable."
The two nodded before they actually went into the interrogation room. Spencer sat down in front of him while Valentina stood with her arms crossed. Spencer began, "Why did you kidnap your own daughter?"
He said nothing. Ingrid's father remained silent and simply looked down at his hands. Valentina didn't really have the patience for this kind of crime because of her own past, so she pushed him a little. "Silence isn't a good way to go, Greisen. You kidnapped your own daughter, your flesh and blood, which coincidentally saved her life. Right now, at the very, very least, you're making it look like you had prior knowledge of the killings. At the worst-"
"I had nothing to do with the murders." Greisen cut off, but that only made Valentina angrier. She didn't even have to put on an act. "You paid Leland and Van Owen to kidnap Ingrid. What kind of a father does that?"
"I want my phone call." Greisen was a little overwhelmed because of Valentina, but that's exactly what they wanted. Spencer ignored his request and toned it down a little, just like he was supposed to. "If what you're saying is true, Mr. Greisen, it seems likely your daughter was somehow involved with these killings."
"She had nothing to do with it." Greisen spoke more defensively, but that set off Valentina. She took her notebook out of her back pocket and pen out of her chest pocket and put it down on the table in front of him. "Write down the names of your daughter's friends, boyfriends, class schedule. I want everything and then maybe I won't assume you killed those kids on your own."
"Ingrid's very private, alright? I don't want to invade her privacy." Greisen informed, but Valentina had to drill this into his head more, "There are five dead children that were tortured, mutilated, and murdered. I could give a shit what you want. All we have to go on is you and your daughter. Do the math, Greisen."
Greisen hesitated. His eyes flickered from Valentina to the notebook, clearly terrified. Valentina had no patience. She pushed the notebook closer to him and spoke bitterly, "Names. Now."
Greisen began to write down everything he knew. Schedule, friend names, anything regarding who Ingrid could be involved with. Spencer had gotten to his feet and went out and back to the bullpen with the BAU. They only waited for Valentina to come back with the list of names from Greisen.
Once she got back out to the bullpen, she informed immediately, "Greisen didn't have anything to do with the killings. He's not the type."
"He is definitely trying to protect his daughter though." Spencer commented. Gideon nodded his head as Hotch suddenly got a call from Morgan. He answered it and put it on speaker, Morgan calling from the hospital with Elle with him. "Ingrid's not catatonic anymore, but she's answering every question with only her name and Social Security number."
"What? Like a prisoner of war?" Valentina questioned.
"There's more. Garcia did some checking. Ingrid hasn't been enrolled in school for over a year. She had good grades. Just suddenly dropped out and vacated her campus apartment. She left no forwarding, guys. We have no idea where or how she's been living." Hotch thanked Morgan quickly before hanging up the phone. Hotch immediately moved over to a file they had made regarding Ingrid and her father. He quickly pulled out some records and showed them to Spencer and Valentina. "He called a psychiatrist, look into it before you get back in there. Ingrid's in a cult."
Spencer and Valentina left immediately to call Garcia. They needed only the basics of who this psychiatrist is and what they specialise in. With said information, they were able to go back into the interrogation room with Greisen. As soon as they got in the room, Spencer asked, "How long as your daughter been in a cult?"
The look on Greisen's face shifted immediately. Valentina put the files they had on the table, but just so it was out of her hands before she informed, "Almost a month ago, you called a psychiatrist in Boulder named Dr. Richard Frank. His speciality is deprogramming; getting kids out of cults. Ingrid joined a dangerous cult and you couldn't convince her to leave, so you had her kidnapped."
"And now you're protecting her because you think Ingrid and her cult killed those kids, and you're probably right." Spencer informed. Just then, there was a knock on the double sided glass, which caught Valentina's attention. She opened the door and let Hotch whisper something to her. She was handed yet another file and brought it into the room. Both Greisen and Spencer had their attention to her, "There's been another killing. A family of five was slaughtered the same way as the Terra mesa killings. There are three dead girls, ages five, eight, and eleven. You know, legally, this could go a long way in distancing your daughter from the others since we know she wasn't there. If Ingrid had a change of heart, a case could be made for brainwashing or temporary insanity."
"Mr. Greisen, we need you to tell us what you know about Ingrid's situation." Spencer informed. This topic was making Greisen tear up. He took a deep breath before admitting, "It's all my fault. Ever since her mother died, I've done everything I could for her, but somehow, I left her vulnerable to these people."
"Given the wrong circumstances, this could happen to anyone's child. We just need you to tell us what happened." Spencer comforted, he knew it wasn't going to be Valentina to do so. Greisen took a deep breath once more, preparing himself, "Ingrid was in her first semester. She started acting strangely. She hardly visited anymore. But when she did, she was different."
"Different how?" Valentina asked. "The way she spoke. She kept repeating these words, this jargon. I didn't know where she was getting it. Then she just disappeared."
"Cults usually have their own language. They invent or redefine certain words that only the cult members would understand." Valentina began, Spencer adding, "It's a way of isolating the members from outsiders. It is a very powerful form of thought control. If you could help us identify some of the key words, perhaps we could get Ingrid talking."
"She said I was a trespasser. That I had no right to be here."
"In New Mexico?" Valentina furrowed her eyebrows, Greisen nodding. "In the desert. She said 'grandfather' taught her the ways of...oh, what was the word? Gahee. Ganhees. Something."
"The Gahe?" Spencer questioned, Greisen nodding again. Spencer and Valentina shared a look before leaving the room. They went back out into the bullpen, where they informed Hotch, "We have more to add to the profile."
"I'll gather everyone." Hotch got all of the cops that were there to get back to the bullpen so that Valentina and Spencer could add more. They were really taking over the profile here because they were the ones learning more. With all the cops around, the rest of the BAU standing behind them, Spencer began the profile, "We're looking for the cult leader. Typically men between the age of twenty-five and thirty-five with a high level of intelligence. A sociopathic underachiever with an extremely abusive childhood. And obviously, someone with an interest in, and an affinity for Apache culture and rituals."
"Look for males with criminal records for lesser type crimes. Drug possession, petty theft. The victims from the first crime scene went to Terra Mesa university, so it's possible the leader was there too. Look for students who studied Native American cultures extensively. We need this done quickly and accurately. With the second strike, it could be a spree..."
•☽.⭒✻════◅∘≼↜.◦◦.↝≽∘▻════✻⭒.☾•
Hotch and John had taken Ingrid to the sight of the new murder. She's been brainwashed into thinking she's Apache, which is not the case whatsoever; she is as white as snow. However, Ingrid did accidentally give away the fact that she had been living in the dead lands, which was the southern edge of the western tract.
The BAU was conversing again, John wanting to make sure he knew that he had this straight, "You said cults like this seek out remote places, yes?"
"They like to isolate their followers and give them the freedom to create their own society." Hotch explained, to which Morgan suddenly hung up the phone. He was talking with Garcia and they had found someone who could be the cult leader they were looking for. "We might just have our cult leader. This guy named Jackson Cally. He was expelled from TMU six months before the others."
"What for?" Hotch asked, Morgan responding, "Drug possession. Peyote. Terra Mesa, the last in a string of colleges. He studied religion and Native American culture in every school and he was in a seminar on Native American culture with Ingrid Greisen."
"That's how they know so much about me. I've been a guest lecturer in that seminar for the past four years." John informed before Hotch gave an order. "If Cally's our cult leader, we need more information on him. Have Garcia pull every shred of Cally's life out of the system."
"She's already pulling."
"Do we know he's still in the area?" Hotch asked, Morgan still having the answers, "He was arrested for trespassing on a bunch of motel properties. Breaking into unoccupied rooms, but his last known address turned up cold."
"Most cults don't have any legitimate means of paying rent. They usually just seek out abandoned structures like Manson's Spahn ranch." Valentina elaborated, which actually helped ring a bell in John's mind. "There's an abandoned motel off route twenty-nine right in the middle of the dead lands."
"You guys head over there, Valentina and I will stay with Reid. We'll pull as much as we can on Cally." Valentina followed Gideon into the conference room where Spencer already was. As Gideon went to gather any past records they had on Cally, Spencer and Valentina were left alone. Valentina sat down in one of the chairs as Spencer leaned on the desk. "You know, I heard something kind of interesting from one of the other agents."
"Spence, I didn't know you liked gossip." Valentina teased as she poked his thigh. Spencer let out a small laugh before elaborating, "No, um. It's actually kind of not great. With one of the cases coming in, major crimes might be having to help out. Which means..."
"Lance." Valentina sighed. "I hope JJ doesn't pick that one. Well, obviously I want to help as many people as possible, but it'll probably be awkward seeing him."
"Yeah. I'd be honoured to be your buffer again." Spencer teased, which earned a smile from Valentina and she patted his thigh, "Thanks, Spence."
Gideon had just then walked back into the conference room and dropped down a large box filled with files. It was everything about this guy. The three of them started looking through everything. Spencer has the unique ability to read inhumanly fast, but Gideon and Valentina were just an extra set of eyes in case Spencer missed something. It was unlikely, but possible.
Once they had gathered a good amount on Cally, Spencer called Hotch and put it on speaker so that they could all inform Hotch. As soon as he answered and greeted them, Spencer started off, "Hey, Hotch. We found something interesting on Cally."
"You're on speaker. Go ahead." Hotch informed before Spencer began, "Jackson Gordon Cally, thirty-two years old. Spent most of his childhood moving from foster home to foster home. Simply another sad, but remarkable statistic aside from the fact that he had an IQ of a hundred and eighty-nine."
"Any criminal record?" Hotch questioned, which was when Valentina jumped in, "When he was eighteen he spent twenty-two months in prison for auto theft. We called the warden at the prison who said that when Cally was there, he found religion and started preaching to the other inmates. He also once convinced a mass murderer to beat an inmate to death that was threatening Cally."
"Ever since he was a child, this guy just survived on cunning force of personality." Gideon explained, Spencer having one more thing to add, "He spent twenty-two months in prison and was released, and then bounced from university studying, you guess it, Native American cultures."
"Hotch, he has to be our guy."
And so he was. The BAU is rarely wrong, especially when it's with people so are so overconfident in their abilities. Truth be told, a lot of the people they deal with don't have the capacity to outsmart the FBI, even if they believe that they do.
They had found the commune, no other members, but they did find Cally, the leader. John had gone with them as well since he was technically police and had a personal connection to all this. John does seem to have a weakness when it comes to restraining himself, but it did them some good, which Morgan had told the rest of the BAU when him, Elle, and Hotch had returned. "Blackwolf got Cally to reveal his true nature. He's a racist. None of this was for the sake of the Apache."
"Never was. It was always about Cally. It was about power and manipulation." Gideon informed before Valentina added in an example she knew quite a bit about since she had listened to Spencer talk about it. "Charles Manson said that he ordered his followers to kill white people in order to start a race war. He referred to it as Helter Skelter."
"And he believed in the aftermath of Helter Skelter, the blacks, who he deemed inferior, would need a white man to lead them." Morgan added on before Elle made an observation, "There is a large cache of guns missing from Minton's house."
"Why would Cally even need guns? His entire MO is to fight a war using the Native American methods." Valentina pointed out, to which Gideon tried to make an assumption, "Maybe he isn't trying to fight a war. Maybe he's trying to start one."
"The first attack was designed to look like Indigenous people in an attempt to manipulate the ADU to retaliate against the reservation. But they couldn't have since we had them under surveillance." Spencer thought out loud, which got Elle thinking, "So Cally tried to provoke them further, by killing the head of the ADU, Minton and his family."
"Right, but that didn't work either, so now he wants to attack the other side." Morgan pointed out, which Gideon elaborated, "He's trying to provoke the Indigenous people by staging an ADU attack against them. Call Blackwolf. We need to get to the reservation."
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John and Hotch had gone to the reservation's school since that was the cult's next target. Those two alone were able to take out six shooters and save the children who were there. John and Hotch weren't hurt, the children weren't hurt, and they were even able to spare some of the unsubs.
When the rest of the BAU had arrived at the scene, they saw five people tied up with rope; it was a makeshift handcuffs. As soon as they all had gotten out of the car, Morgan, Spencer, and Valentina had each gotten one of the cult members and loaded them into the police vehicles. Hotch had seen Valentina help one person up to their feet, who was bleeding pretty badly, so he warned, "Valentina, he's cut up pretty bad. I don't think he's going to make it."
"At least I didn't shoot him." John spat, but Valentina saw the state of this boy and retorted, "Speaking from experience, I'd rather be shot than stabbed."
Valentina and Spencer had brought the last two unsubs to one of the cop cars and loaded them in. Once Valentina closed the door, Spencer spoke with concern and curiosity, "You were stabbed and shot?"
Valentina untucked her buttoned shirt from the waistband of her jeans and lifted it enough to show her stomach. She pointed to a circular scar on the right and a small lined scar on the left. "Shot and stabbed."
"When did that happen? Are you okay?" Spencer spoke with concern, but Valentina shoved it off. "I'm perfectly fine. I was shot when I was eleven and stabbed when I was nine."
"Is it because of the..." Spencer didn't want to say it since he didn't want to bring up anything triggering, but Valentina knew what he meant. She nodded her head before crossing her arms. "It was a long time ago though. I've gotten good at dealing with everything."
"Well, if you ever need to talk or just...anything, I'll be here for you. Always."
"Promise?" Valentina stuck out her pinky, which brought a smile to Spencer's lips. He interlocked their pinkies and responded, "Promise."
❝ 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐞. ❞
- 𝒏𝒊𝒆𝒕𝒛𝒔𝒄𝒉𝒆
❘ ❙ ❚ ❚ ❙ ❘
a/n
i know a lot of people find the word 'indians' offensive when referring to indigenous peoples. when this show was made, it wasn't really thought of, so i did change a lot of the words unless it was quite literally what that specific thing is called such as the Indian Act; that is the name of the canadian act, so that's what i called it. i didn't change it when John Blackwolf said it since that character has every right and i didn't change it when minton was saying it because he was genuinely a racist.