☼ Sunny ☼
It's officially my favorite month of the year, October! I don't know what it is but the minute the leaves start to change and Halloween movies are playing on tv. I'm a completely different person. Depression....where? Anxious....not me. I'm just happy...peaceful.
I'm insanely jealous of Spence and Emily having a birthday in my favorite month. I might have went a little overboard with his presents, but one of my three love languages is gift giving. I took him to see a magician show that was actually pretty cool. He was extremely awkward that whole night which made me worried that I definitely did something wrong.
In my defense I love birthdays....they weren't really a big thing in my home. I can count on my hands the amount of times my mother was actually home for my birthday. The first year after my parent's deaths I came home to a surprise birthday party thanks to Gideon and Rossi. They had spent so much time decorating my living room to make it special for me.....I've never felt so loved and from that moment on I've made it my life's mission to always make sure the people I love feel the way they made me feel....wanted.
But I have to remind myself that some people might not actually like the attention.
I walk into the office sporting my knitted long sleeve orange sweater with cute little ghost on the neckline. Ever since Spence said he liked my hair down I've been skipping the usual space buns. Why you might ask because I'm a people pleaser and the guy I've been obsessively crushing on for the last few months said he likes my hair down.
Spence comes walking up next to me wearing a clear face mask of an old man with dark bushy eyebrows and a soft plush pumpkin candy bucket in hand. He was perfectly adorable.
"Spence! Happy haunting!" I smile big.
"Changing up your style today I see. The sweater looks good." He tells me, my smile growing wider.
"What are you doing this weekend for Halloween?" I ask him curiously. He gives me that cute excited look before speaking.
"You know the cool thing about Halloween is that it's a uniquely American holiday..." he pulls his mask up. "I mean, despite its obvious origins in the Celtic festivals of Samhain and the Christian All Saints' Day, it really is a melting pot of various immigrants traditions and beliefs...."
We walk into the debriefing room. "It became a little more commerialize in the 1950's with trick or treat, and today it rivals only christmas in terms of popularity. As far as your question goes I'm toying with the notion of either going to the Edgar Allen Poe shadow puppet theater or the reenactment of the 19th century phantasmagorias." He tells me. I take a seat at the round table. Derek, Emily, and Rossi stop to look at him.
"I don't want to know" Rossi tells in utter disinterest. Pen walks in dressed to the nines in orange and black as she looks at me with a smile.
"Oh, yeah, you do. Phantasmagorias are these amazing pre-cinema projected ghost shows invented in France, where the showman attempted to spook the audience using science magic." I love how excited he is getting as he talks about it.
"You should definitely do the phantasmagoria. I heard it's amazing." I tell him.
"I have an extra ticket....I don't know if you have plans...but if you don't or you just....or if you like phantasmagorias. I...you.....would you like to go with me?" He stumbles on his words, those hazel brown eyes locked on mine. The entire room goes silent watching us.
"I would love to go with you Spence." I answer him, his face lighting up as he sits down next to me.
"Good.....good...awesome." He mumbles. Everyone keeps looking back and forth between the three of them with giant smirks on their faces. I would love if my love life was not the talk of the inner circle.
"Guys, I wouldn't have to worry about losing my feminine curves if you all paid more attention to all the trees we're consuming around here." Pen says passing out our new case files.
"When did you become an eco-freak?" Derek asks her kind of surprised.
"Baby, I was born green." She smiles.
Hotch walks in turning on the screen. "We're going to Detroit." He announces.
I look over at Spence in disappointment....well there goes our plans. "It's Halloween weekend....Sunny and I have plans. The phantasmagorias." He complains. I place my hand on his for a brief moment. His gaze flicks to mine with a small smile tugging at his lips.
Hotch decided to ignore Spence, moving on to our case. "Arson investigators have noticed a 3 year trend in the days leading up to Halloween."
"Devil's night." Spence and I say in unison. Are gaze meets briefly before turning our attention back to our new case.
"This unsub is killing only these 3 days out of the year." Hotch explains.
"How's he doing it?" Rossi questions.
"He's burning his victims alive." He responds.
"Taking burning man to a whole new meaning...." I say taking a sip of my coffee as Hotch just looks at me speechless. "My inner thoughts came out didn't they?"
Emily nods her head yes. "Many apologizes." I grimace.
"He's abducting seemingly random people and dumping their bodies in abandoned parts of town. He struck again last night." Hotch moves the conversation along. I was going to get fired later....that or a visit to HR in my near future.
Pen speaks up "Yeah, Tony Torrell, 40. He lives in the suburbs, but he was found 20 miles away in the Rivertown district.
"So he's attacking the city at it's most vulnerable time." I state.
"What does he do during the rest of the year?" Spence ask looking between all of us.
"He's dormant." I answer.
"You know, arsonists are typically white males between 17 and 25 who can't stay away from fire." He expresses.
"Yeah, they're addicted to it and there's no rehab." Derek says looking at Spence.
"And they target dwellings, not people." Spence reminds us.
"So you're saying he burns his victims alive but he's not an arsonist?" Penny looks at both men for clarification.
"Fire is simply his weapon." Derek begins before Spence interjects. "And Devil's night gives him the perfect cover to kill."
"Then we've got 48 hours before he disappears again." Hotch advises.
Derek looks down at his files in front of him. "Well, his last victim was athletic. He wouldn't be easy to subdue. The offender must be just as strong or might have an upper hand if he's younger." He says.
"Still, how does he transport his victims across the city and get them inside buildings without being noticed." Emily questions.
"Wheels up in 20. I don't want to waste more time." Hotch orders before leaving for his office, the rest of the team right behind him.
Spence and I sit back as I grab his mask off the table and put it on. "I'm sorry our plans got ruined. I was really excited."
He leans closer to me, his hand grips the bottom of the mask as he slides it up my face so he can see me, completely unaware how hot that was.
"Will you take a rain check?" He smiles, his beauitful eyes on mine.
I nod my head over enthusiastically. "I'm holding you to it, Doctor."
☼🕮‧₊˚ ⋅♡‧₊˚ ⋅🕮☼
I sit on the jet sofa, Hotch takes a seat next to me. I feel like I'm in trouble somehow....I look over at Derek with pleading eyes begging him to save me. He smirks chuckling to himself before taking the seat next to Spence. Rude.
"Now, I thought Devil's Night was Halloween eve." Emily questions.
"The moniker "Devil's Night" is somewhat deceiving. In Detroit, it's actually a 3 day citywide cultural phenomenon, complete with masks, chaos, and costumes." Spence answers her.
"Say that 3 times fast." Rossi challenges him.
"Masks, chaos, and costumes....masks, chaos, and costumes....masks, cha...."
"Finnegan." Hotch interrupts.
"He wasn't being literal was he?"
"No." Hotch gives me an annoyed expression.
"Sounds like Mardi Gras." Emily states looking over at him, containing her laugh.
"Yeah, a violent one. Vandals and amateur arsonists literally set hundreds of fires." I explain. Spence cocks an eyebrow impressed I know that.
Rossi shakes his head. "Who burns their own city?"
"It started as pranks in the 1930s but escalated in the 1970s with disenfranchised youth." Spencer explains to him.
"Well given today's economy, it must be a free for all. They've got record breaking unemployment and foreclosures, leaving a lot of displaced, desperate people." Derek mentions.
"And every single one of these victims suffered unimaginable pain." Emily says looking up from her file.
"I'm sure that's what get him off, watching them burn." Derek counters.
"It gives him power and control." Hotch mentions.
"The top of the whodunit list is first responders, firefighters, arson investigators, cops, and paramedics." Derek lists out.
"Civil servants with a hero complex." Spencer adds nodding along.
"So pretty much all the peeps who will be helping us...great." I give a tight lipped smile.
"This guys angry." Emily observes.
"Obviously." I point out. She gives me a playful glare.
"Not like this. Have you seen these." She hands me the crime scene photos of the charred and crispies....yes I have. Luckily I didn't let my inner thoughts come out my mouth this time.
"Extreme anger usually manifests from a quick temper, but this guy's patient." Spencer says looking at all of us. God he looks good in that red cardigan. My eyes slowly trail down to appreciate him.
Derek clears his throat snapping me out of my wayward thoughts. He gives me a knowing smirking.
Focus Sunny. We can not let a gorgeously cute six foot one Doctor distract you from catching a killer.....I look back to catch Spence staring at me, his tongue poking out of the corner of his mouth while he gazes at my lips. The corners of my mouth quirk into a smile, his gaze snapping to my eyes slightly embarrassed.
"I'm gonna ask Garcia to notify us, the minute that someone's reported missing." Hotch says next to me.
"Burns 3 people annually. It's like his Christmas." Rossi says grabbing the crime scene photos from me.
"And the rest of the year he just plans.....targeting his victims and then choosing the buildings he wants to kill them in." Derek mentions.
"There's a flaw in his plan." Hotch states. "We know about it."
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Rossi, Hotch, Spence and myself go to the Detroit fire department to meet with the Fire Lieutenant Al Garner. It's oddly weird stepping into a fire station instead of a police one. I could feel the testosterone wafting in the air.
"We're stretched as it is, but we've set up a joint task force with the Detroit PD to catch this guy." Al says.
"It's pretty extensive." Spence says following behind him.
"I'd say don't profile me, but you're in a roomful of suspects, right?" He asks us taking us into an office.
"A city full" Hotch tells him.
"Victims abducted across every socioeconomic divide." Spencer points out.
"And this son of a bitch is about to burn a few of them alive." Al stands in front of a screen that has the photos of all the victims.
"Problem is, we've gotta catch up." Rossi says. "And we know he's gonna be watching." Hotch adds.
Al turns around to look at us. "Well, we're gonna bust him this year" He says confidently.
"We've got two agents on the way to last night's crime scene." Hotch informs him. Spencers hand brushes mine, my heart flutters just like it always does.
"Great. I'll meet them there. I hope we find something soon. It gets dark early this time of year." He tells us.
"And we'll head to the morgue." Hotch says.
"I hope you have a strong stomach." Al warns.
"I live off of coffee and girl dinners." I smile as the four men all turn to look at me with varying looks. Concern, amusement, annoyed.
"Finnegan I want you and Reid to stay here and focus on victims. Find us something that will help us catch him." Hotch tells us as we nod.
"Girl dinner?" Rossi questions shaking his head before following Hotch out.
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I'm spread out with files on the victims as I read through them. Spencer is doing the same not far from me. I'm sipping my coffee as I read Tommy Proctor the first victims file.
"Spencer.....come here." I tell him. A second later his chest is leaning up against my back, his head leaning down next to my own as he looks at the file. I've completely lost all train of thought at this point. I have absolutely no idea what I was even calling him over here for. He quickly reads the file in my hand before speaking.
"The unsub had many botched attempts at burning him....." He says. I tilt my head to look at him. His jawline could literally cut stone......why do I find it so attractive?
"Wait it says here that they couldn't find his body for days....buried deep inside the building." His eyes continue to scan the file as I'm reeling from the feel of his body against mine......get it together Sunny.
"Is it possible that the first victim is someone he knows and if so then he might know the rest?" I question. Spence nods his head before tilting it to the side to look at me. My breath hitches when his lips come inches from mine.
"Hi" I say like an idiot. Internally I'm screaming at myself. "Hi" He whispers back. His eyes slowly trail down to my lips, his tongue poking at once more from the corner. I want him so bad.....
My hand trembles as it goes to move to the nape of his neck. This was a bad idea Sunny.....you both are working. In the middle of a fire station I might add. He leans in, I could literally feel the soft brush of his lips....
"Thanks Morgan....." we hear Hotch's voice carrying not to far from the door of the office. I let out a small scream as Spence jolts back from Hotch's voice.
My hand slams onto my chest trying to calm my erratic beating. For a brief moment his lips had brushed mine and I was losing my mind.
Not that it hasn't painfully obvious that we want to kiss each other. Somehow the actual feeling of an almost kiss has me spiraling in the best way possible because it finally feels real. That I'm most definitely not the only one who wants this.
"We heard a scream....is everything okay?" Rossi says rushing in with Hotch.
"Sorry I didn't mean to scare you old geezers. I just spilled some coffee on me...." Lie...I screamed because we almost got caught kissing.
I don't exactly know what the protocol is for agents who decide to date and I'm not about to go asking around about it either. Regardless I have a feeling that Hotch would ship me off to timbuktu because let's be honest, they are keeping Spence on the team regardless and I will gladly let them sacrifice me.
We sit with Hotch and Rossi going over what we found out about the first victim and how it might connect us to everyone...hopefully.
"The first time we looked at these victims on the map, none of it made sense. 7 different victims, various ages, sex, and ethnicity." Spencer starts off.
"What do you see now?" Rossi questions.
Spence holds up a case file. "The first victim...." Rossi interjects with his two cents. "often tells us the most." He states.
"Tommy Proctor." I tell them.
"Well, his rap sheet is longer than the nile." Rossi says looking at the victims file. "It looks like he's always walked on the dark side."
"First killed inspired him. What's different about it?"
"Glad you asked boss man." I smile looking over to Spence to continue. "Two things. First of all, his body wasn't found for days. He was buried deep in the building." He explains.
"That often tells us that they know each other." Hotch points out.
"Not to mention it took many botched attempts to burn him." I add. I'm trying to keep my dazzling personality to a minimum.
"Because the unsub didn't realize how difficult it is to actually burn a human body." Rossi theroizes.
"Or it's overkill he wanted proctor to suffer the most." Hotch piggybacks off Rossi's theory.
"Makes it personal don't ya think?" I question.
"If he knew the first victim, it's a good chance he knew them all." Spencer expresses.
"We just have to find out how." Rossi says looking at both Spence and I.
"We can start by talking to Tony Torrell's wife." Hotch states. Letting us know we did a good job. Dream work makes the teamwork.
☼🕮‧₊˚ ⋅♡‧₊˚ ⋅🕮☼
We are explaining to Al what we've found out between the first victim and our latest victim's widow's memories.
"You make him sound like he's Freddy Krueger or something." Al says leaning on the table.
"Welcome to my world, bitch!" I recite. Everyone just stares at me again. "What? He said Freddy Krueger....that's his famous line. Come on seriously."
"I'm sorry about Agent Finnegan. She....." Hotch begins but Al raises his hand stopping him. "I like her she's got spunk." I give him a warm smile. At least someone likes my charm.
"We do think he's severely burned." Rossi speaks up moving the conversation back to where it should be, before giving me a warning glance.
"It explains why he chooses this time of the year. He doesn't have to hide his scars." Spence says rubbing his hand on his face briefly.
"What about his victims?" Al questions.
"He's punishing them for wronging him." I state.
"Wronging him?" Al looks offended. "What about his second victim?" He holds up a photo of a beautiful women. "Have you looked at Josephine Davis life? She was the nicest woman in the world. How did she wrong this guy?" He slaps the photo down looking between all of us.
"He's had moments....interactions with all of his victims, some more personal than others." I try to explain.
"So he's acting out of revenge. Kiersten and Tony didn't even speak to him." He points out, standing up straight.
"Maybe not that night, but at some point in the past." Emily speaks up as she leans comfortably back in her chair.
"Now, wait a minute. Josephine was abducted from her husband. Tony was abducted from his wife." Derek starts to work a theory.
"You think these couples represent the happiness he covets?" Emily asks him.
"Or something he lost. He's a young guy with a deformity. Major insecurities come with that." Derek tells her.
"A trauma like that would be devastating for him and anyone in his life." she says.
"Do you know how rare it is for an arsonist to be a burn victim?" Al questions us.
I immediately look to Spence knowing he's has the answer. "Less than 3.5 percent." He rattles off.
"Is he not amazing?" I murur. His serious face now plastered with a giant grin.
"This guy is not an arsonist though." I tear my gaze from Spence looking back at Al. "He's a serial killer that uses fire."
"And that choice of weapon tells us that he's aggressive, driven, and destructive, just like fire itself." Derek voices his opinion.
"But why would someone so controlling chose the most unpredictable weapon?" Emily questions out loud.
"This juxtaposition tells us there's more going on with him than we realize." Spence mentions.
"He's probably experienced some kind of loss these past three years that started him down this path." Rossi says.
"We should look at accidents where couples were burned." Hotch suggests.
"We're talking about hundreds of fires." Al points out.
"Focusing on ones where gasoline was the accelerant." Hotch adds. Derek's phone starts to ring as he goes to grab it out of his pocket.
"Leaving his victims in the heart of Rivertown, in the center of the buildings themselves, may be subconscious on his part, but it says that this affected his very core." Emily says as I nod my head agreeing with her.
Derek puts his phone down interrupting us. "All right, hold on. Somebody else has just been abducted."
"How do we know this is our guy." Al questions him leaning on the table.
"Because his daughter said a monster took her Daddy away." My heart sinks. That poor girl is probably terrified out of her mind.
"Freddy fucking Krueger." I snap out. Al nods his head but Hotch just gives
me a warning look like I'm on his last nerve.
We get Penny on speaker as she starts rattling off all she can find. "Our victim's name is Christopher Edwards. He's 35. He lives in the suburbs."
"What part?" Al questions her.
"Birmingham." She replies.
"How far is that from the Rivertown district?" Hotch asks.
"Not more than 40 minutes. He might already be inside." Al says.
"Let's lock it down. We'll trap him." Hotch orders.
"I'm going down there." Al declares standing from his seat and heading for the door.
"I'll go with you." Hotch says getting up. "Garcia have Detroit PD set up roadblocks."
A few moments later Pen's voice comes through the speaker. "Chris Edwards is a husband, he's a father, he's a general contractor." She states her voice pitching higher when she talks about his job title.
"I would check any subcontractors who've worked with him." Derek suggests.
"Ok, that is a humungous list. What do you want me to do with it?" She questions.
"Penny look at anything that requires flames...this can be plumbers, electricians, welders. Did he possibly fire a welder recently?" I list off options for her. I hear the fast clacking of her keyboard.
"Ok my scrumptious sweetie. Uh, he's been using Vinnie's welding and fence, but he hasn't hired them back in months. List of employees coming up......it's still a handful." She tells us.
"Ok, we think he's been following the investigation. Look at volunteers with detroit's finest." Emily suggest.
"Okay, I'm crossing employees with volunteers.....nothing."
"Come on, baby girl, keep checking." Derek encourages. "There's gotta be a connection here."
"Ok, I'm gonna long shot it and I'm gonna cross the Michigan business directory with the payroll company and see if I still got what it takes to find stuff.........and I do. His name's Kaman Scott." She finds him like the wizard she is.
"You got an address?" Derek questions.
"I'm working on that.." She pauses for a moment. "Ok, from the look of Kaman Scott's early years, he was on the fast track to be some kind of hoodlum bad boy super convict, but something happened in 2004 that made him change his evil tune, cause then there's no arrests, there's no suspicions, there's no sign of rehab but he totally cleaned up."
"Maybe that's when he met someone?" I look at Spence for a brief moment.
"Has he ever been arrested with a man named Tommy Proctor?" He asks.
"Yeah once in 2002...yikes, and then they collided again in 2005, like literally collided Kaman was in an accident and his car blew up." She responds.
"Well, there's your gas accelerant." Derek states looking over at Emily.
"He was hit by that guy, Tommy Proctor." Pen says.
"There's your revenge." Rossi declars.
"Twist of fate. The life he left behind came back to haunt him." Emily gets all metaphorical.
"So Tommy walks away without a scratch and Kaman suffers a ton of third degree burns, had a boatload of skin grafts, was in a coma for a couple of months, lost his apartment......Oh, and there's that one guy. His landlord was Tony Torrell." Pen says putting our pieces together.
"So we're right he does have a revenge list" Spencer chimes in as he looks around the table before his eyes land on mine.
"What about family, friends, acquaintances?" Rossi asks her.
"No that Kaman is a lone wolf and his address just came up. Big bad lives at 5923 Mills." She tells us. We thank her before Derek and Emily take off to Kaman's last known address.
I bring spence a cup of freshly brewed coffee before taking a seat on the table right next to him. I sip my coffee mulling over everything.
"Kaman has nothing to live for right?" I ask him.
"That's what we are assuming." He responds sipping on his own coffee.
"We have profiled him as a planner....meticulous. But tonights' abduction was irrational. Went on private property and took Edwards with a witness present...." I pause taking another sip as I try to work through my thoughts out loud as Spence listens to me.
One of his hands comes up slightly shaking as he sets it on my thigh. I'm frozen in place.......enjoying every bit of his touch. My top love language is physical touch and Spence has found every excuse to touch me in some way. His fingers start to draw patterns.....or maybe it's a math equation. Either way my entire body is buzzing at the contact. I try to focus back on the case at hand.
"Is he starting to feel the pressure.....reacting to it.....maybe there's more to it. He would have a plan if he got cornered....an endgame. He's already killed the man he blames for his accident, the other victims don't really possess the same level of revenge......he needs to hurt the person who hurt him the most.....the one that broke his heart.....but who....It's like there is a puzzle piece that fell on the ground and it's under my shoe and I'm searching for it with no luck."
Spencer's phone starts ringing, his fingers still as he sets his mug down to answer it not taking his hand off my thigh. "Hotch...yes....okay...." He hangs up.
"They found Chris Edwards body. Hotch wants us and Rossi to meet him at the crime scene." I nod my head. His hand slides off my leg as I internally pout at the loss of contact.
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We make it to the scene searching Kaman's van first before meeting up with Hotch and Al. "Kaman Scott worked for Chris Edwards. He was fired seven months ago."
"Why did he kill him here?" Al questions.
"Roadblocks forced him out of his comfort zone." Hotch replies before switching over to us. "Anything in the van?"
"Welding equipment, cans of gasoline." I answer. "And a cage" Spencer adds. That was the second most shocking thing to see tonight. The first was Spence whose becoming bolder with his actions...not that I'm complaining....I just wasn't expecting this side of him. It's incredibly sexy.
"I'm getting everyone in the city down here on this" Al states before walking off to make some phone calls. Hotch looks at the three of us. "Without his car he's going to lie in wait until he can't anymore." He tells us. Spence and I look at one another knowing exactly what Hotch is thinking, I could hear Rossi let out a worried sigh on the other side of me where he stands.
"Then he's gonna lash out again."