❛ 𝑪𝑶𝑳𝑫 𝑨𝑺 𝑰𝑪𝑬 ❜
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•☽.⭒✻❙ 𝐒𝐄𝐗, 𝐁𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐇, 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇 ❙✻⭒.☾•
𝒂 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒐'𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒊𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒃𝒆 𝒂 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒓
❝ 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐡𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭. ❞
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𝑯𝑨𝑹𝑵𝑬𝑺𝑺 𝒀𝑶𝑼𝑹 𝑯𝑶𝑷𝑬𝑺
𝒑𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕
❛ i'm asking you to hold me just like the morning paper ❜
𝑉𝐴𝐿𝐸𝑁𝑇𝐼𝑁𝐴 𝐻𝐴𝐷𝑁'𝑇 𝑆𝑇𝐴𝑌𝐸𝐷 𝑂𝑉𝐸𝑅 at Spencer's last night. After everything with Alessandro, she just wanted to spend some time alone to recuperate. Spencer too wanted to know about the man she had killed, which Valentina did not want to revisit. Spencer is very willing to give her space about everything regarding her past, but once the topic of her killing someone came up, he needed to know. Valentina understood why.
Valentina had gotten to work before Spencer and didn't have any paperwork to catch up on, so really, she was just waiting for the briefing of their next case. She was talking to Gideon by her desk when very suddenly, Spencer came rushing in. "Hey, Spence."
"Val, who's your contact at the DC police?" Spencer asked without any sort of greeting beforehand as he also picked up the phone on her desk, already dialling the number to that branch. Valentina was caught off guard a little, but she responded, "Uh, Amelia Kriss. She's Maverick's wife."
Spencer then got a hold of the DC police and they could only hear his side of the conversation. "Hi, Detective Kriss, please."
"What's wrong?" Gideon wondered, but Spencer ignored his question and simply handed him a rough sketch of someone. "We need to get that to everyone as soon as possible."
Gideon handed the photo to Valentina so she could get a good look at it as Spencer had finally gotten a hold of Amelia. "Hi, Detective Kriss?...This is Special Agent Dr. Spencer Reid of the Behavioural Analysis Unit at Quantico...Yes, yeah. I'm Valentina's boyfriend...This is business related...Have you had any recent murders involving prostitutes, maybe just Jane Doe's? They would've been stabbed to death and their hair would've been cut off by the killer...When was the most recent victim?...I'll explain when I see you. I'll meet you in half an hour."
"What's going on?" Valentina repeated Gideon's earlier question, wanting to know why Spencer was being so frantic all of a sudden.
"DC may have a serial killer, and I think I just let him get away."
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Out of all of her siblings, Valentina is the furthest from Maverick. While she is twenty-four, he's thirty. He is a surgeon and Valentina is an FBI profiler. There is not a lot of overlap with their jobs, hobbies, or even social similarities. Valentina and Marco both work within the law while Maxwell and Valentina had always just gotten a long well.
However, Valentina and Maverick's wife, Amelia Kriss, have always been good friends. She was a detective in Maine until she got transferred to Washington D.C. about two months ago; Maverick went with her. Both Valentina and Amelia are in law enforcement, simply a different form. And the two of them only have brothers. Amelia has two older brothers while Valentina had four-- Maverick, Maxwell, Marco, and Victor. The two girls were the ghost of a sister they always wanted.
Valentina, Spencer, and Gideon had met up with Amelia at the D.C. M.E.'s office and they had contacted Hotch, who had just gotten there. "Hey, I just got your message."
"Hotch, this is Detective Amelia Kriss. Amelia, Agent Aaron Hotchner." Valentina introduced the two. They shook hands and Amelia sent him a small smile, which Hotch replicated. He did get straight to business. "So, what've we got?"
"This is the second victim. The first one was killed three months ago. Both in the early morning." Spencer explained, him and the other two agents having already been debriefed. Hotch had heard a little bit about what Spencer had learned. He was approached by a young boy, who knew about a case that had yet to be publicised, so they were checking in on the case to ensure he had nothing to do with it, or possibly was the reason it was happening.
"Both had their hair chopped?" Hotch wondered, earning a nod from Amelia before she elaborated, "The uniform didn't make the connection because he was fixated on this."
Amelia lowered the tarp over the body to show the stomach with the word 'help' carved into the skin with other wounds surrounding it. Valentina tried to get a closer look to determine what kind of wounds they were as Gideon asked, "First victim didn't have anything carved on her?"
"Just a routine Jane Doe." Amelia explained before Valentina brought the attention back to the body. "Guys, a lot of these wounds are really shallow. They look like hesitation marks, which means that this guy isn't sure he wants to be killing."
"Makes you think the message he carved is sincere. And he's asking the police to help him stop." Spencer explained, and the more they dug into this, the more he thought that it was the teenager that approached him earlier that day, which was exactly what Gideon pointed out, "It fits with your kid, seeking you out. Part of him wants to get caught."
"I let him go. I'm sorry." Spencer hadn't thought much of this kid when they first met, but it was his awkward demeanour that made Spencer think he was hiding something. No one could have known this kid could be dangerous. Valentina put her hand on Spencer's back and reassured, "We'll find him."
"If both murders took place in the morning, how come there are no witnesses?" Hotch wondered, to which Amelia explained, "The motels and alleys around the Capitol are notorious. People go out of their way not to look."
Washington D.C. and really any other city in the United States has a reputation of having unreliable politics. The politicians that say they are going to clean up the streets and rid their city of prostitutes and crime are the same people that manipulate the legal system to make their friends wealthier and higher prostitutes to cheat on their wives. Politicians will judge the lower class after they extort them.
Spencer and Valentina had gone back to the FBI building to talk to Garcia since Spencer didn't know the name of the teenager that had approached Spencer earlier that morning. Knowing Garcia, she'd be able to find him in minutes. They had already checked juvy records or children charged with crimes, but there was nothing. Spencer was starting to lose hope. "This is impossible. There is nothing in the juvenile offender records."
"You just need to think like a high school kid." Valentina suggested from her seated spot on Garcia's desk while Spencer was pacing like a mad man. He did stop, however, to answer his girlfriend, "I was twelve and I hadn't been through puberty when I was in high school."
"Okay, then I'll think like a high school student and you think like a profiler. We'll combine minds. You said he was a junior, right?" Spencer nodded his head. "Well, when I was a teenager, whenever I spoke to authority figures, I lied about my age and said I was older. It's how I got into university early. So, this kid is probably a sophomore."
"Wait, you lied your way into university?" Spencer clarified, but Valentina only shrugged her shoulders. "I was going to university to learn how to replicate behaviour and use an understanding of human nature to manipulate criminals in the aid of law enforcement. If the university couldn't see that I was replicating the behaviour of an eighteen year old and manipulating them into thinking I'm older, that says more about the university than me."
"Was there anything about him that might point towards what kind of school he went to?" Garcia wondered. Spencer tried to look back at what the kid looked like and reminisced, "His coat was lamb's wool, but it didn't look vintage. It fit like it'd been tailored for him. That means money. In D.C., money would mean private school."
"You're so hot when you're smart. Isn't he hot when he's smart?" Valentina lightly wacked Garcia's arm, who only smiled at Spencer and added onto the taunts, "Very endearing, Dr. Reid."
"Can you please just pull up the district that serves Northwest High and see if there are any private schools within those boundaries?" Spencer asked as he looked down at the ground. Valentina could still see his red face, so she decided to tease him more. She held Spencer's arm and pulled him towards her. "Aww, Spence! You're blushing!"
"Not used to being complimented by pretty women, Reid?" Garcia teased. It was always these two that teased, but complimented Spencer. Garcia was just loving towards everyone, but with how loudly Valentina admires Spencer, it created a ripple effect.
"No, not really." Spencer responded with a small laugh, to which Valentina thought she might try to make him sweat a little seeing as how he should be used to her constant compliments. "You saying I'm not pretty?"
"I'm saying you're ethereally beautiful." Spencer corrected, earning a smile from Valentina that she tried to hide. She failed in doing so.
In the meantime, Garcia had finally figured out the answer to Spencer's earlier question. "There are three private schools within your parameters."
"Do any of them offer elective courses at Georgetown?" Spencer wondered.
"Yeah, one. The Morton School. I'll pull up the sophomore class too. See if you recognize the kid." Garcia offered. She showed him a chart of all the kids in that class with their yearbook photo next to their name. Spencer quickly scanned it before seeing the culprit. "Nathan Harris. That's him."
Now knowing who this kid was, they needed to talk to him. Going up to an FBI agent and asking about a murder that has yet to be publicised is an incredibly suspicious act that was going to be questioned. Sometimes unsubs made themselves far too obvious, but then again, Nathan Harris wasn't the confirmed unsub.
Spencer, Valentina, and Amelia had gone to the Harris home to speak with Nathan. His mother, however, was the one who answered the door. It was always tough when a child or teenagers were an unsub because their parents will be overprotective, even if they need to let go. Ms. Harris opened the door and greeted them, "Yes?"
"Hi, I'm Detective Amelia Kriss, this is Special Agents Dr. Reid and Barnes. We're looking for your son, Nathan." Amelia explained, and as they expected, the parent became defensive. Her arms crossed in front of her chest and she glared at the three law enforcement officials. "Why?"
"We just want to ask him some questions." Amelia elaborated, but his mother still was going to do anything to protect her child. "Well, not util you explain what's going on."
"Your son came to talk to me this morning about a murder case." Spencer explained as Valentina watched Nathan emerge from his room and move to the door to see what was going on. He must have heard his name multiple times. His mother did scoff. "Why would Nathan know anything about a murder?"
"No, mom. It's true. I did talk to him. Do you mind if I speak to them alone?" Nathan asked his mother. They could already tell he was a reserved individual, which was fitting the profile that everyone was beginning to put together. Amelia stayed out in the living room to speak with Nathan's mother while Valentina and Spencer followed Nathan to his room.
"I knew if you were really good you'd find me." Nathan expressed towards Spencer as Valentina put her hands on her hips. She was only doing this to keep her hand by her gun. They didn't know if this kid was the person killing prostitutes, but because he was their only suspect, Valentina wanted to be cautious.
"Is that why you were waiting for me? You wanted to get caught?" Spencer asked, but Nathan seemed genuinely confused by his curiosity. "What do you mean get caught?"
Spencer had a feeling he knew what this was about and what would be linked to these murders, so he began to open Nathan's laptop. Nathan clearly didn't want him to since he lunged forward, but that was what Valentina was prepared for. She stepped in front of Nathan and put her hand on her gun. Nathan was scared by her glare alone. Spencer was able to lift the screen and they saw paragraphs. "It's just the text for a graphic novel."
"About killing prostitutes?" Spencer guessed, seeing as how it was the only possibility. Nathan shrugged his shoulders and smiled slightly. "Yeah, Jack the Ripper. It's a famous case."
"This isn't a game. You knew specific details about a murder that hasn't been publicised, do you know how that looks?" Valentina pointed out the reality of this situation. Nathan's expression immediately dropped seeing as how these FBI agents weren't amused by his keen interest in crime. Nathan did defend himself, "But I didn't kill her. I just...I really wanted to."
Spencer and Valentina looked to each other with a knowing expression. This kid was willing admitting to wanting to murder prostitutes after he knew explicit and detailed information about an ongoing investigation that hadn't been publicised. All signs pointed to him being the unsub.
Spencer only had to ask if he would come down to the FBI building to be questioned, and Nathan very willingly complied. He might have been the main suspect, but at least Nathan was showing that he was willing to cooperate and give as much information as he knew.
Spencer, Valentina, and Amelia were the ones in the interrogation room with him since they were the ones that went to talk to him originally. Spencer was sitting across from Nathan since they already saw each other as equals in some sense, while Amelia and Valentina scared Nathan, so they stood up. Valentina was the one that began the questioning, "Nathan, you say you didn't kill those women, but how did you know details of the murder?"
"'Cause I saw the body. It was early, it was before school. She was dressed in red, she'd been stabbed a lot, and her hair was all chopped off." Nathan explained. They were now more testing him to see if he had actually witnessed it or if he was trying to lie. Nathan was trying to cooperate with the FBI, but if they caught him in a lie, they'd have more reason to believe that he is the murderer. Amelia needed to know, "And where was the body?"
"In an alley off of K Street. They take men down there for sex. I see them do it all the time." Nathan expressed. He was clearly embarrassed by what he was admitting, but it was necessary to prove his innocence.
"What were you doing down there?" Spencer asked, to which Nathan explained, "I don't know. I just sort of end up there sometimes. You know, I stay out all night and I just come back in the morning. And if my mom's at work, I don't even bother coming home."
"You saw a dead body and didn't call the police?" Valentina pointed out. Nathan only shrugged his shoulders and looked down at the table, slightly ashamed of what he hadn't done. Amelia, who had been on this case longer, informed, "Nathan, the prostitutes I've spoken to say that you watch them."
"But I never touched them. I just think about killing them." Nathan defended himself to the women, but then looked to Spencer, "Look, after the lecture, I saw you at the metro stop a few times and I thought maybe you could help me."
"How?" Spencer wondered.
"I don't know. I saw that body and I felt excited. And that really scared me." Spencer had done a talk about sexual sadists at a university a few days ago, it was just before they spoke to Alessandro. Nathan felt some sort of connection with Spencer, and it was terrifying.
"Don't you think there could be the possibility that you did actually kill those prostitutes, but you just don't want to admit it to yourself?" Amelia asked, seeing as how the only way this kid could be the murderer, was with this explanation. Nathan shook his head for a no, which forced Spencer to ask, "Then why'd you run away from me?"
"Because...I don't know, I thought you'd say I was crazy and there's no way to stop it." Valentina looked to Amelia, who caught on to the silent message being sent her way. They backed up a little bit and Nathan watched as the two girls whispered to each other. They wanted to send Nathan to the juvenile authorities for psychological evaluations.
Amelia stayed in the interrogation room to talk to Nathan about it so see if he would be open to staying at a hospital overnight while Spencer and Valentina left to go speak with his mother. They needed her permission to send him there.
As the couple made their way through the building to find Gideon and Nathan's mother, Spencer had held onto Valentina's arm to get her to stop walking. "What is it?"
"Val, I think we need to talk after this case is done." Valentina immediately became nervous by that sentiment. "We need to talk like 'we need to break up' or we need to talk like 'you need to stop getting sweaters for the cat' because I will only be devastated by one of those things. The other I could live without."
"You'd be devastated by us breaking up, right?" Spencer needed to clarify since he knew how much Valentina really loved knitting sweaters for Vincent. Valentina averted her gaze a moment. "Yeah. Yes! Yes, of course. I would never want that to happen. The cat sweaters I could...Well, I really like the cat sweaters, but I like you more. I swear."
Spencer let a small smile form, knowing she was joking. "Well, it's not about either of those things, but it's still important."
Valentina gave him an expectant look, wanting to know what exactly she should be dreading or looking forward to. "It's about...um, what Alessandro was talking about."
Valentina knew he was referring to when Alessandro mentioned the man Valentina had killed. When she was in that basement and at nine years old, Valentina was working in the garden. The woman's brother was watching her, but stepped away for a split second. Valentina was able to escape through the corn field and get pretty far, but he had taken his car and gotten to her first.
Valentina ended up stabbing him to get away, but still was brought back when the man who abducted her came home early. He grabbed her, threw her in the car, and took her back to that basement. Valentina had to live with the fact that she stabbed a man and killed him, but it was self defence.
"I don't want to talk about that, Spencer." Valentina proceeded to try and walk away, but Spencer grabbed her arm again. "Val, I'm okay with giving you privacy about stuff that happened to you when you were a kid, but this is different. I need to know if you hurt someone."
Valentina looked into his eyes, trying to see if there was any way he'd let this go, but he wouldn't. Valentina pulled her arm away. "Like you said, we'll talk about it later."
Valentina walked away from Spencer, not wanting to talk about this any further. Spencer needed to know what happened with Valentina and the man she killed. He assumed it was self defence, but there was always the possibility that it was for some psychotic reason.
Spencer followed his girlfriend to the bullpen where Gideon was speaking to Nathan's mother. As soon as they walked over, Valentina asked, "Ma'am, we'd like to give Nathan to the juvenile authorities to hold him overnight. He needs a psychological evaluation."
"I can't believe this is real." The women ran a stressed hand through her hair, but Valentina reassured, "This is just an evaluation, but I would encourage Nathan to have a lawyer present."
"I don't know what he's going through, but the Nathan I know is a sweet boy." She defended her son, not wanting the FBI to pin anything on him, but Nathan having to do a psychological evaluation and admitting to everything he is, it wasn't looking good for him.
"Do we have your permission, ma'am?" Gideon asked once more. She nodded her head, knowing this was the best case for Nathan, so Spencer brought her to one of the conference rooms so she could sign the paperwork to transfer Nathan. At the same time, Amelia had come back to the bullpen to inform, "Guys, the juvenile authorities came straight away. They're waiting for Nathan Harris."
"Is the kid our unsub?" Morgan asked as he joined in on the conversation, getting up from his desk. Amelia, who was in the interrogation, shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. He says he didn't do it, but he actually seems sincere."
"He's a smart kid, but part of the sexual sadist profile is the ability to mimic honesty and sincerity." Valentina pointed out. There was always the question with willing criminals as to if they're being genuine or are master manipulators. Nathan is young, so it was a stretch to think he was tricking the FBI, but they had to keep their options open. Anything is possible.
Valentina was sitting on her desk while Spencer was stood next to her. They had brought Nathan out to the bullpen since he wanted to speak with Spencer before he was taken to a psych ward. Valentina watched carefully as Nathan spoke to him. "Dr. Reid, I know I don't deserve any favours, but whatever my psych eval says, you promise you'll tell me the truth?"
Spencer nodded his head, but Nathan specified, "My mom says a promise doesn't count unless you say it out loud."
"I promise." Spencer repeated what Nathan already knew. Nathan sent him a small smile before one of the officers that had arrived with Amelia led him out of the bullpen. He needed to be contained just so they could be absolutely certain that he was not the person killing these prostitutes.
"You know, he might have killed two women. You don't need to hold his hand through this just because he's young." Valentina pointed out, not wanting Spencer to take on too much mental baggage that doesn't even belong to him. Spencer moved closer to her and leaned against her desk. "It's like with my mom. I used to think that if I could just understand absolutely everything there is to know about schizophrenia then I'd...I'd somehow be able to fix it."
Valentina held his hand and put it on her leg, drawing small stars along the back. "Spence, you aren't smart enough to cure schizophrenia. Not yet, at least. You can't solve every problem just 'cause you have an IQ of forty-million and you can remember literally everything since the dawn of time. And you're allowed to take breaks. You don't have to cure schizophrenia and you don't have to personally help this kid."
"I know." Valentina knew that Spencer had incredibly high expectations of himself and with his genius, he believed he could do incredible things for others. With his mind, he had helped the FBI tremendously, but Valentina knew he couldn't be a full time profiler and constantly think about cases while also curing schizophrenia. It's too much for one person to handle. Valentina kissed his knuckles to make him feel more at ease before Hotch had walked past them, ordering, "Hey, guys. I need everybody in the conference room. If Nathan Harris isn't our unsub, we need a working profile."
Valentina and Spencer wasted no time in joining everyone else in the conference room. They all sat down at the table, Amelia standing with Hotch, as JJ had put up a picture of the first victim, which had the same message as the second carved into her stomach, as she explained, "D.C. police sent us these photos of the first victim."
"This was the unsub's first kill. He held his urges in check for three months and when he couldn't control them anymore, he sent this message to the cops. We know the 'help' and the hesitation marks mean he was ambivalent about the kill. What we don't know is why he chopped the hair." Hotch explained, to which Amelia knew one thing for certain. "Well, it's not a trophy because he didn't take it with him."
"It's probably a way to minimise some of their power. Robs them of their femininity." Gideon explained, to which Spencer added on, "That fits with him killing during the early morning. That's the time when prostitutes have the least power sexually, as opposed to at night when he might see them as being on the prowl."
Valentina couldn't get rid of this thought in her mind since all of this M.O. was so incredibly familiar to her. "I know we're just spitballing, but this profile points to Nathan Harris."
"I don't want to talk about Nathan Harris." Hotch shut her down very quickly. He wanted to think of this case as if they didn't already have someone in custody, but Emily stuck up for her since this was still sounding familiar to her as well. "Valentina's right. He reached out for help. This is an adolescent kid. He's probably intimidated sexually."
"I don't care how many times he said he didn't do it. He knew about the last victim and he admitted to getting off on seeing her dead." Morgan agreed with the two girls. He was seeing exactly what they were, no matter how much Spencer believed that this kid was just misunderstood. The logic pointed to Nathan.
"We've got Nathan Harris. It doesn't do us any good to talk about him now. I just want to make sure that if it's not him we stay on top of this thing before it takes on a life of its own." Hotch explained. He was hellbent on making sure they had a backup plan, which was smart. If the chance that Nathan Harris was not their unsub was true, with a profile already ready to go, they could save the lives of dozens of women.
"Alright, alright. We know our unsub is a sexual sadist." Gideon brought everyone back on track so Hotch wouldn't still have to be the one to scold them. Valentina did get on board with Hotch's wishes, so she pointed out, "The symbolism of stabbing them probably means he's impotent."
"The only way he can get off is by killing." Emily added.
"Considering that cutting their hair and killing during the early morning both stem from feeling powerless, there's a chance his pathology's more than sexual." Spencer observed. He was very invested in this case since he deeply believed that Nathan Harris was not at fault here. Amelia did need clarification. "What do you mean?"
"This is D.C. Power is the most important commodity. Maybe this guy feels impotent in his professional life as well." Spencer explained himself, but this was bringing up more questions asked by Morgan, "But why these particular women?"
"The simplest answer is that he has access. Northwest D.C. has three major hubs of prostitution. Near Florida Avenue, off Logan Circle, and McPherson Square, where the victims were found." JJ informed, knowing the logistics of this case rather than the theories, which was the profilers' job. Speaking of, Valentina theorised, "He probably works in or around Capitol Hill."
"Well, I'll go back out on the street in the morning and see if any of these women know someone who fits the description." Amelia offered, seeing as how she had done a lot of the canvassing beforehand. She could speak to the same people and develop a better relationship to get them to reveal more. Hotch was in favour of that idea. "Good. It's late. Let's go home."
Everyone got up to leave, but they did hear Hotch saying that they couldn't let this get out to the press, which was odd since the more women who knew about this killer, the more that could remain safe. There are some cases such as terrorist issues or bombings that should not be brought to the public's attention since that would only cause mass panic, but this was a situation where the more women who knew, the better.
Spencer had gone with Valentina back to her place since he wanted to talk to her about what Alessandro had mentioned in terms of Valentina's past. Spencer wanted to bring it up naturally.
While Valentina was sitting on the couch knitting a present for Vincent, who was laying on the coffee table, Spencer was on the other end of the couch reading, but it was absentmindedly. Valentina's eyes flickered up to Spencer, noticing something odd about him and clearly seeing that there was something wrong. "Okay, either tell the gears in your head to stop turning so loudly or tell me what's wrong."
"I'm just reading." Spencer shrugged off, but Valentina scoffed; she knew that was a lie. "It's been ten seconds and you haven't turned the page. You read like Quicksilver."
"I actually prefer the Flash." Spencer contradicted, which earned an offended glare from his girlfriend. "You take that back right now, you bitch."
Spencer laughed at her violent response and put a hand up in surrender as the other put his book down on the table behind the couch. "I take it back, I take it back...I just...you said we'd talk later."
"You're still on that?" Valentina breathed out as she looked back to her knitting and continued on, hoping to drown out this conversation. Spencer desperately needed to know, however, so he shot her a pointed stare, "Valentina."
Spencer never uses her full name. Spencer constantly calls her by her nickname to the point that it's become odd for him to call her 'Valentina.' The only times he has was when he was mad or being serious. Although, Spencer and Valentina haven't really had a fight yet. Small disagreements, but nothing serious. Valentina knew he must've been desperate if he was calling her by his full name. "Okay, okay."
Valentina gave in as she put her knitting on the table behind her. She crossed her legs on the couch and shrugged her shoulders. "What do you want to know?"
"Did you kill someone?" Valentina let out a small breath. She averted her gaze away from Spencer's eyes as she finally admitted to herself and Spencer, "...Yes."
Spencer let out a breath and rubbed his face with stress. Valentina could see that he was clearly being affected greatly by this, but she wasn't going to lose him or fight with him over something that happened years ago. "It was self defence, I promise. I feel so guilty about it even though he was a horrible person. I hate that I had to do that, I was just so young, and I didn't know what to do. I just...I'm sorry."
"What happened?"
"There was a time when I was able to escape where I was being held as a kid, which I took. But then the brother of the woman who kidnapped me got me and I had to stab him with the knife he carried everywhere. He bled out in the middle of a cornfield and I still got dragged back down to the basement. The man that took me forced me to bury the body. I was nine. But the worst part is...I don't even remember the name of the man I killed."
Spencer was looking at her with this horrified expression. Valentina couldn't tell if he was terrified by what she had gone through or what she had done. She hoped it wasn't the latter. "See, this is what I was afraid of. You'd think I'm crazy or something."
Spencer grabbed Valentina's hand and began to pull her towards him. Valentina went along with his lead until he had pulled her into his embrace. Valentina laid between his legs and rested her head on his chest as Spencer wrapped his arms around her. He ran his hand through her hair for comfort, hoping that he could take some of the pain held within her heart and keep it for himself, just so Valentina could have somewhat of a break.
"I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have made you tell me that." Valentina traced small shapes on his rib-cage as she let out a comfortable breath, feeling at home in Spencer's arms. "It's okay. It's good that I'm telling you these things. I'm being honest with you."
"I mean that I really didn't want to know that. Thinking a kid had to kill someone and then bury their body, yet they still didn't get their freedom. I'm just...I'm so sorry. I just lo-...I care about you so much and I wish I could have been there to save you." Spencer admitted. Valentina doesn't talk about her abduction, only when she feels it's necessary to a case or she wanted to be more open with Spencer. But each time they talk, Spencer learns more about Valentina that breaks his heart.
"You were a kid at that time too, you couldn't have saved me." Valentina pointed out the obvious, but Spencer didn't care about that. All he wanted to do was protect her. "But when you got out, I could've been there for you."
"You're here now. That's more than enough." Valentina smiled as she sat up a little. She gently kissed Spencer's lips, to which he matched her smile. Both Spencer and Valentina have gone their lives assuming that they couldn't be loved in such a way that their souls would feel neverending happiness. From Spencer having to grow up way too early and Valentina losing her childhood innocence so abruptly, the two of them found domestic and deep comfortability within each other.
When they pulled away, Spencer realized what Valentina was doing, "Did you seriously cover the cat's eyes?"
Valentina sat up and picked up Vincent, bringing him to sit in her lap as she scratched his head. Spencer too sat up and looked to the girl as she explained, "He doesn't need to see that. He's just a little baby."
Valentina then grabbed what she had been knitting, which was a green hat with a yellow sunflower on the top of it. She set it on Vincent's head and lifted him high above her head. "A little baby with a pretty hat!"
Spencer couldn't stop his smile from forming as he looked to the girl he was in love with. Everything about Valentina made him feel safe, complete, like his life had some passionate purpose. That purpose-- love Valentina until the ends of eternity, through tragedy, through loss, through death.
•☽.⭒✻════◅∘≼↜.◦◦.↝≽∘▻════✻⭒.☾•
The next morning, Valentina, Emily, Spencer, Hotch, and Morgan had gone down to a new crime scene since a new prostitute had been killed and there was a new message carved into her stomach. Valentina, who was the one kneeling down by her body to see if the hesitation in the cuts were still there, pointed out the obvious, "It says failure."
Valentina too grabbed the wallet belonging to this girl and looked at her ID so they could identify who she was, but there was something horrifying about it. "Oh my god, she was only sixteen."
"He's getting angrier and blaming the police for not stopping his impulses." Hotch pointed out as Valentina had stood back up and joined the small huddle of FBI agents while the techs took care of this girl's body with care. Spencer agreed, "He's certainly not cooling off between kills anymore."
"Which means we're looking at a whole lot of bodies." Morgan deduced. There was another aspect to this case, the press aspect, that really only Hotch was aware of and brought to light, "Meanwhile, in two days, Congresswoman Steyer's going to stand up at the Capitol and declare Washington crime-free."
"Hey, what did she want with you the other day, anyway?" Emily very innocently wondered. She knew Congresswoman Steyer since she was young, so it was purely curiosity, but Hotch became slightly defensive. "I was a private conversation."
Emily immediately backed down. "Right. Of course. I'm sorry."
Feeling bad that Emily had gotten shut down, Valentina brought the attention back to the actual case and not wonderment. "So, Nathan Harris definitely isn't our unsub."
"Should we call Gideon and tell him not to bother with the eval?" Morgan asked, seeing as how there was really no point in trying to profile the answer out of Nathan. Morgan was asking for Hotch's professional opinion, but it was Spencer that jumped in, "No. He wants to understand what's happening to him. He deserves to know."
Spencer felt some sort of connection to this kid and it had been bugging Valentina. There was something on her boyfriend's mind that he was not admitting to her and she wanted to know. Of course, Valentina respects his privacy, but this was regarding the case as well. She thoroughly believed that Spencer could tell her anything and she wouldn't care any less. Her admiration for Spencer is endless and she didn't want him to feel alienated.
Later in the day when Nathan was released, he had been sent back home, but coincidentally, was nowhere to be found. They knew for a fact that Nathan was not the unsub, but it didn't make it any less suspicious that he was gone.
It was dark outside by then, so Hotch had sent out Valentina and Spencer together to find Nathan. Morgan and Gideon were looking too, but everyone was hoping that Spencer, who had a clear connection with this kid, would find him first to get through to him.
"He's got to be out here, right? Where else would he be?" Spencer expressed with Valentina in the driver's seat. She was fine to be out in the street looking for Nathan, but she thought it was ridiculous that only four people were looking for him-- Valentina, Spencer, Morgan, and Gideon. "I can't believe his mom's not out here looking for him."
"I told her it'd be better if she waited for him at home." Spencer clarified, sticking up for his mom since the only reason she wasn't there was because of Spencer. Valentina let out a small breath. "Again, Nathan is not your responsibility."
"He is...I can't explain it." Spencer expressed, which earned a scoff from Valentina. She was most likely the one person who could understand seeing as how she was the most similar to Spencer. "Try me."
"He knows that I understand him." Spencer explained, but Valentina saw that as obvious. "Well, yeah. You're a profiler."
"It's more than that...I know what it's like to be afraid of your own mind." Spencer admitted as he looked down at his hands. Valentina wanted to tell him that she had once felt the same way. She's been afraid of her own mind, but not because she's some sort of genius. Valentina also didn't want to admit it to herself.
"Hey, what's up with Hotch today? He was kinda short with Emily." Spencer pointed out, changing the subject. Valentina let out a small laugh at the observation before she teased, "Maybe he tied that knot in his tie a little too tight and something finally popped."
Spencer laughed at her taunts just as Valentina received a phone call. She took it and Spencer could only hear her side of the conversation, but he really only needed one piece of information. "They just found a body."
Valentina had driven them down to the address that Gideon had told her on the phone. It didn't take them long to arrive, but once they were there and realized where the body was located, it was a sign. The body was in an incredibly public place, so public that the Washington Monument was visible. Valentina let out a breath. "He's definitely getting bolder."
"If it's the same unsub." Gideon contradicted, which made Spencer ask, "You think it could have been Nathan?"
"This kill was fast and messy." Gideon pointed out with Valentina adding her own observation, "There's no cut hair and no message carved."
"Not to mention killing at night. None of it's our unsub's signature." Morgan expressed just before a local officer had rushed over and caught their attention. He had found Nathan, whom they were looking for. He brought the four agents down to a church nearby where Nathan was sitting in the seats, looking up at the stained glass.
They let Spencer go over there and speak to him, also arrest him, but while he was doing so, Morgan, Valentina, and Gideon hung back. Both Morgan and Gideon could tell that Valentina was slightly anxious and it was only worrying to the two, but it was Gideon who questioned her, "What is it, Barnes?"
"You ever just worry about Spencer sometimes? Like not in a 'he's going to die because he can't walk in a straight line' way or even just because he's like this oblivious walking encyclopaedia, but just like...worried about him?" Valentina expressed. Morgan and Gideon honestly had never felt that way since it was one or the other options she gave, not genuine and random worry.
"I think that's more of a couple worry. I mean, Reid seems fine to me." Morgan pointed out, but Valentina only squinted her eyes at him. "You call yourself a profiler?"
"Ouch and we promised we wouldn't profile each other. It's a team rule." Morgan argued, but Valentina knew that that was a small flaw of hers. "Well, some of us can't just turn it off."
It was honestly a flaw of Valentina's. She tries so desperately to not profile her co-workers, but she learned to read human behaviour to survive being kidnapped. It became an instinct to constantly be aware of people's emotions and now comes to her like a sixth sense. Valentina never wants to invade her friend's privacy, but sometimes, the truth set foot directly in Valentina's line of vision.
Now that Nathan had been arrested and was being taken down to the station by some of the officers who work for Amelia, Valentina, Spencer, Morgan, and Gideon had gone back to the FBI building so that they could rendezvous with the rest of the team and combine information. Spencer and Valentina had gotten there just after Morgan and Gideon, so on their way through the building, they ran into Amelia, who needed an update, "So, Nathan's in custody?"
"Yeah, they're holding him in the station downtown." Spencer explained, but Amelia still needed to know more, professionally so, "Do you guys think he actually killed the last woman?"
"It's possible, but Nathan's evolving. This last kill, it feels like devolution." Spencer pointed out as they were walking through the FBI building. Valentina had added onto his point by saying, "It was sloppy and angry. Nathan is really smart and directed, which means he's used to achieving. So, if he decides to kill, it'll be clinical and efficient, not random and unorganised."
"So, that just leaves us with the profile." Amelia concluded as the three of them walked into the conference room to join Hotch, Morgan, Gideon, Emily, and JJ. Once everyone was situated, they needed to get started on making the profile. JJ and Amelia are not profilers, and one doesn't even work for the FBI, but this was necessary for them to know.
Hotch began the profile, "The first victim, he gets a taste for killing. The second, he asks the police to help stop him. By the third, he feels like they failed him, he's already devolving. The fourth, no ritual, no message. Just brutal murder."
"It's true that he's devolving, but this last victim definitely had a message. You don't dump a body across from the Capitol Building and in view of the Washington Monument by accident." Gideon pointed out, seeing as how there was a message, but simply a different one. There was another addition to this argument which Amelia was aware of. "Especially not when a Congresswoman is about to proclaim success against the crime epidemic."
"Exactly."
"You guys, that press conference wasn't announced yet. Only someone with inside information would know that." JJ pointed out the obvious detail that they were missing. This did help Valentina direct everyone's thinking so a consideration they made already, but needed revisiting, "Our current profile says that the unsub would feel impotent in his job. I mean, what's more powerless than being a bit player on the Washington stage?"
"You know, if he felt like he did his part to clear the prostitutes off the street, but was never heard, he might have felt so personally betrayed that he literally had to carve his frustration out on those women." Morgan theorised and it sounded right, so Spencer went along with it, "So the profile was right. We were just wrong about who the message was for."
"We need to get a list of anyone who advocated on behalf of the bill." Emily suggested just before Hotch had turned to Amelia, the true expert on this case and the one with the most experience and asked, "Detective Kriss, when you went back to talk to the prostitutes, did the profile right a bell with any of them?"
"A few described what I thought sounded like the same guy, but no one recognized any mugshots." Amelia explained.
Hotch had an idea of his own that he wanted to implicate, so he ordered, "Let's go back to them. We're going to need our help."
"Oh, Robot Hotch is really thinking." Valentina teased. Amelia put her hand over the girl's face and shoved her back a little to get her to be quiet. Amelia has been like a big sister to Valentina for quite some time. They're sister dynamic was something they both always wanted, and now they gladly had it.
"I need to get a message to Congresswoman Steyer. How quickly can we put together a press conference?" Hotch wondered, trying to get a time estimate between the necessary protocols and actually catching this guy.
"How fast do you need it?" Because Amelia has a good relationship with law enforcement and everything surrounding it in this city, Amelia was very willing to get the news stations to the FBI building as quickly as possible so that Hotch could get through whatever and say what he needs to say.
Valentina and Spencer, while this was all happening, went to Garcia's office, which was just the tech room. But Garcia is the only technical analyst. Valentina and Spencer had more of the profile and needed specific names with the ones they had already. If this wasn't Nathan, they needed to find the actual unsub. Valentina gave the first profile parameters, "We think this guy works on or around Capitol Hill, maybe at a research or advocacy group dealing with crime control or prevention."
"The lower the group is on the Washington food chain the better. This guy, he feels like his voice isn't being heard. And make sure to check for any advocacy groups promoting morality or values." Spencer finished her thought, but this wasn't exactly helping Garcia in any sense since she expressed, "Okay, reality check. What you're looking for, needle. This, haystack."
"Garcia, we don't have to find it. We just have to get it to the people who can." Spencer pointed out to her. Just then, Amelia had walked into the technical analysis room to get Valentina and Spencer, "Hey, lovebirds. We need you in the conference room."
As Valentina and Spencer walked towards her to follow her to the conference room, Valentina pleaded, "Do you have to call us that?"
"I've been very professional this whole time, but I have a limit." Valentina's sister in law teased.
The two FBI agents followed Amelia to the conference room. She had brought in three prostitutes she had spoken to while Hotch had invited Congresswoman Steyer back to the BAU. They just needed to wait for her to arrive, but during that time, Garcia had gotten the departments that could possibly contain the unsub and gave it to Spencer. They wanted to question the congresswoman about it while also making her face the victims. She was in denial that these women were actually in danger and would rather have this out of the press that save the lives of innocent women.
Hotch had brought Congresswomen Steyer into the conference room where Amelia, Valentina, Spencer, and the three prostitutes already were. She sighed as soon as she caught sight of the three workers. "Just what point are you trying to make?"
"These women describe similar experiences with the same man. We showed them police mug photos and they didn't recognize him. We thought maybe you might know who he is." Hotch suggested, trying to be civil. But of course, because this politician cared more about her status, she insulted, "Did you think you could shock me by treating me to this sideshow?"
"Sideshow? Lady, enough of the men you work with treat themselves to us every day." One of the women expressed, not in the mood of being insulted like that. "My apologies, ladies."
"Would you girls mind telling the Congresswoman who it is we're looking for?" Valentina asked the three women, knowing that they knew this man better than anyone else since they all had actually spoken with him. One of the girls nodded before explaining, "He's tall and bald and he's got sad eyes."
"He was always wearing a turtleneck with this long dark coat. Looked like a mortician." The second girl explained before the third added on, "That's right. Hung around just watching for months before he finally got his nerve on. But then he just wanted to watch."
"Freak paid me and Rancine two hundred bucks to turn each others' knobs, but then he started screaming at us that we were low women." One of the girls explained before another added, "Same thing with me and his voice got real high and nasal when he got excited."
"Does that sound like anyone you know?" Amelia asked the congresswoman, but she shook her head. "No."
Spencer, who had the list from Garcia, stepped forward and wanted to use their backup plan rather than an immediate recognition. "I'm going to read you a list of groups that lobbied on behalf of your legislation. Keeping in mind the description you just heard, tell me if anyone associated with these groups could be the man we're looking for. The Crime Policy Institute. The Centre for Safety. Citizens Brigade. Decency Watch."
Valentina saw Congresswoman Steyer's expression immediately change at the sound of that last group. Valentina questioned, "Decency Watch?"
"Yeah, the man who runs it. Ronald Weems. I don't really know him, but he's a nobody." Congresswoman Steyer explained, but they needed clarification, which Amelia got, "But he fits this description?"
"Perfectly."
•☽.⭒✻════◅∘≼↜.◦◦.↝≽∘▻════✻⭒.☾•
Hotch, Morgan, and Gideon had gone down to Ronald's home to speak with him and also get information or evidence to arrest him. They needed to make sure that Ronald was actually the unsub. However, when they went down there, only his wife was home and she assumed he had gone back to work, but upon calling his workplace, he was nowhere to be found.
The rest of the team began looking for Ronald, each taking a picture with them and surveying the town, asking different prostitutes if they had seen Ronald. It was most likely that he was going to commit another murder, so what better evidence than to catch him in the act?
Amelia and Valentina had gone out together, both taking a picture. Upon asking a dozen women, the two girls shared a look and Amelia shook her head. No one had recognized him. The two girls began walking together as Amelia broke the ice, "So...how've you and Spencer been? You guys seem to work well together."
"Yeah, we're good. People say never date the people you work with, but I think in this case, it's a good thing. We don't have to deal with never seeing each other because we always see each other." Valentina explained, earning a small smile from Amelia and a playful nudge of the arm. "You guys moving forward? Use the L word yet?"
"Lesbian?" Amelia laughed and shook her head. "No. Love."
"Oh. No, no. We're nowhere near there yet. I mean, yeah, I care about him a lot, but we're not ready to say that yet." Valentina sort of laughed through. Thinking about having to be that vulnerable and admiring someone so deeply again was terrifying. The last time Valentina let herself be in love, he turned out to be a serial killer. Of course, Spencer is far from that, but there's still the fear that she could get hurt again.
"You might now be ready, but I see the way Dr. Know-It-All looks at you. I miss that look. All Maverick does now is expect me to make him dinner and clean the house as if I don't have shit to do." Amelia complained, earning a scoff from Valentina. "You decided to marry the worst Barnes kid. He's the exact definition of trust fund douchebag."
"True. But he's got a nice face." Amelia argued, Valentina letting out a small laugh. The two girls were going to keep looking until they very suddenly stumbled onto Ronald himself, talking to a prostitute. They heard the woman blow a whistle, which made him start running. He hadn't seen the two law enforcement officials, so he ran right at them.
Valentina was ready, so as he got close enough, Valentina was able to grab his neck and slam him on the ground. She turned him over and quickly handcuffed his wrists behind his back. Amelia called everyone else on the team and got them down there, Hotch bringing a car around. They arrested Ronald and got him off the streets. They were able to get him to admit to every murder and put him away for good, thus helping the women of Washington D.C.
After the case was over and Valentina had given her paperwork to Hotch, she went back to she and Spencer's desk to find him sitting there still, clearly contemplating. Valentina sighed, knowing that this case was pretty rough for him. She grabbed her bag and walked over to him. Valentina stood behind his chair and put her arms around him, resting her hand on his chest. Spencer immediately put his hand over hers as she encouraged, "Spence, you and I are gonna go get drunk so you can forget about your problems."
"No offence, Val, but I'm not really feeling like I'd make the best company right now." Spencer denied, but Valentina wasn't going to let him off that easily. "No, Spence. Get up. We're going out, I promise it will make you feel better."
Valentina turned his chair so he was facing her. Valentina encouraged, "Come on, you've never seen me drunk! I'm really stupid when I'm drunk."
"Isn't everyone?" Spencer questioned as he took Valentina's hand that was held out for him to take and stood up. Valentina elaborated, "No, I mean, I'll forget what the colour blue is called."
Spencer smiled at the girl as he put his arm around her shoulder. The two made their way out of the FBI building and down to their cars. Spencer had taken the bus to work that day since he wasn't staying with Valentina, but Valentina had driven in. On their way to her car, which she took great pride in since she and David Rossi had built it from scratch together, Spencer had received a call. Valentina threw she and Spencer's bags in the back as she listened to only his side of the conversation, "Hello?...What...Oh, god. Uh...Stay where you are. I'm on my way."
Valentina looked to Spencer expectantly as he asked, "I need you to drive to the motel on third street."
"Yeah. Yeah, okay." Valentina complied. As fast and legally as she could, Valentina got them to that motel. She didn't really get an explanation as to what was happening, she just helped Spencer. She followed Spencer into a specific room where Nathan was bleeding out on the bed and a prostitute was panicking. Valentina wasted no time in rushing to the bathroom to grab one of the towels as Spencer put his hands over the wounds on Nathan's chest to stop the bleeding.
"He just started slashing himself up!" The woman briefly explained as Valentina rushed back. She gave it to Spencer to help put pressure on his wound and stop the bleeding as she very quickly called 911. She tried to get medics down there as fast as she could, but Nathan was bleeding out fast.
Nathan had told Spencer earlier that the only way to protect people from himself was to commit suicide. He had left Spencer's card on the table with his number on it so that when he started hurting himself, Spencer would be the one being contacted. It was like a suicide note.
Luckily, the paramedics were able to get there quick enough to help Nathan. Valentina had spoken to the paramedics to figure out if Nathan would be okay and because Spencer was pretty overwhelmed. He had blood all over his hands from trying to help Nathan and generally shaken up. When the paramedics had taken Nathan, Valentina walked back over to Spencer, who was waiting by her car.
Valentina hated that distraught look on his face, it broke her heart. "The paramedics say that Nathan would've died without you. You saved his life."
"He wanted me to let him die." Spencer spoke quietly. Valentina cupped his jaw with her hand, to which Spencer kissed her palm before looking up at her. "He's going to get the help he needs. He's sick, Spencer, but now, he can get a psychologist, medical attention. Nathan's going to be okay, and he wouldn't have been if you hadn't saved him."
"I really don't feel like I saved him."
"It never does. Saving sick minds only ever feels like you're delaying a future trauma."
❝ 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐦, 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐰. 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬. ❞
- 𝒕. 𝒔. 𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒐𝒕
❘ ❙ ❚ ❚ ❙ ❘
a/n
unpopular criminal minds opinion, but my second favourite character is luke alvez and i like him and garcia more than i like morgan and garcia
still love morgan with my whole heart though
NOW INTRODUCING...
•☽.⭒✻❙ 𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐀 𝐊𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐒 ❙✻⭒.☾•
❝ 𝐢 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝'𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐤𝐢𝐝. ❞
keke palmer