"The belief in a supernatural source of evil isn't necessary. Man alone are quite capable of every wickedness."
—Joseph Conrad
Guest-speaking in FBI training classes had never been something that crossed her mind.
As someone who grew up a foster kid, being the centre of attention was never something she'd been a fan of, so it had never even seemed like it could be an option for her. Yet, after that one fateful case six months earlier in Boston, Jodi found that she only ever spent time in an office and cafe's.
When her boss, Agent Jason Gideon, had made the decision to take time off after the horrible occurrence of losing six agents to the 'Boston Shrapnel Bomber', Adrian Bale, Jodi made the decision to follow him, along with Spencer, on that break.
Considering that she witnessed six good people get blown up in her first case, Hotch hadn't even been remotely surprised to find out she was already requesting some time off. He knew she was young — only two years older than Spencer, which was another reason he'd had for pairing them together — and didn't want her to back out of this career path entirely after just one case.
In the time she had been staying with them, Jodi had come to trust Spencer with every fibre her body was made up of. He would, more often than not, follow her out to clubs and other such places, just sit outside with a book in hand in his car to ensure she wasn't roofied while out drinking and picking up guys to take home. Then he'd call her apartment an hour after leaving to ensure she was okay.
When he wasn't up to that, he'd be sitting at her apartment pretending to be her roommate while also quickly profiling the guy she chose to bring back to her place, then heading out to a "friends" house for the night. This plan also ended with him calling her place an hour later to check in.
The two had set up a system that worked well, even though it meant that Jodi paid her debts by spending the rest of her life buying Spencer his first coffee of the day.
Which was exactly how the two of them had started off that completely uneventful Tuesday morning; with a coffee and apologies for drunken chit chat. They drank them on their way to the BAU building where they acted as assistants for the Behavioural Analysis Unit training class.
It was nice that they got to stay in Virginia. Jodi didn't have to ask a neighbour to watch her apartment or figure out what she would need for her future somewhere else. She could keep her routine of going out to parties and enjoying her life.
God only knew when she would get the chance again.
They had just gotten off the bus and were on their way into work, and Jodi was mildly horrified. "I don't even remember what I said last night," she cringed, rubbing her temples with the tips of her fingers while Spencer carried her coffee for her. "It was something about...there was something to do with dinner buns. I think."
Spencer snorted quietly and stepped behind her so the oncoming crowd wouldn't run right into him. It was routine now, for Jodi to pave the way in crowds for him. "You wanted me to stand on one so I could be on a roll with my science puns," he murmured. "I'm hoping I don't have to explain that pun to you."
Grinning to herself, Jodi nodded and turned to make grabby hands for her coffee. The caffeine withdrawal headache had eased slightly, so the definite answer was to drink more. "You know what's sad, though?" She snickered to herself. "Sober me still thinks that's hilarious."
Spencer shook his head, but still smiled. "It was clever," he admitted as they turned down the main walk to their office building. "But not nearly as funny as you made it out to be."
She opened her mouth to protest, then thought about it. Jodi sighed. "Yeah, that sounds about right."
Spencer held the front door open for her as they walked inside. The both of them scanned their ID cards to be let in the second security door. Jodi quietly hummed the chorus to a song she had bouncing around in her head. Couldn't remember the words to the damned thing, but the tune was nice.
They stepped into the elevator just before the doors closed.
She chugged down half her coffee, ignoring the way it burned her mouth and throat as she swallowed. She was desperate enough for caffeine, it didn't matter. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Spencer twitching nervously, cringing a little bit every time someone bumped into him, and she frowned.
Jodi never liked seeing him this uncomfortable.
Getting to know each of his quirks and hates and likes and habits had been a marathon rather than a sprint. The more comfortable he got around her the easier it was for her to distinguish what she needed to do to help. Most of what that was, was just playing weird games the two of them had come up with on long flights and drives with Gideon that she had noticed took his mind off the things stressing him out.
So she knew what she had to do.
"Alrighty Spencer; time for my random fact of the morning," she grinned, adjusting her stance so he was in the corner with all the buttons and she took all the awkward nudges that came with being in a crowded elevator. "Give me the weirdest ones you can think of, about...hmm...the weirdest facts you can think of about sea cucumbers."
He only had to pause for a moment, and in that short time his shoulders dropped from his ears. "Well, they breathe out of their anus, expel a venom when under stress that can blind a person if it gets in their eyes, and they can expel their inner organs if under stress or just feel crowded."
Now that he'd had the chance to sort through the different pieces of his memory, Jodi could already tell he was much calmer and she smiled internally at that. But the satisfaction was brief as she processed what he said. "You're kidding about that last one, right?"
"Nope."
"Of course not...that would be a cool party trick, though."
The looks they received as they stepped off the elevator never failed to make her laugh.
The two said good morning to Gideon and drank the rest of their coffee with him, saying goodbye only when the bell rang to signal the start of classes. Once the halls had cleared, for Spencer's sake, Jodi dragged him from Gideon's office and out to the hall just outside their boss's classroom. There was more space there and things were cleaned far more frequently.
Jodi grabbed two fiction books from her carry bag — she'd been trying to get Spencer to read literally anything other than non-fiction for months because she felt they were too boring for his brilliant mind — and gave him Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie, while she settled for an old, all time favourite; The Hobbit. "You have a serious obsession with that book, you know that?" Spencer noted with the tiniest of smiles.
As she sat down next to him on the hall bench, Jodi rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well, I'm trying to read a book as fast as you, so I have to pick a familiar one," she grinned cheekily, scrunching her nose before lightly flicking his shoulder.
After crossing one leg over the other, she dropped her bag at her feet and shifted around in the wooden chair until she was comfortable. "It's a murder mystery," she told him and flipped the worn-out book to the first page. "Don't want you getting too far out of your comfort zone, over there."
Spencer just rolled his eyes and waved her off, hearing the dry note to her voice, and unintentionally mimicked the way she sat.
Just like each and every time she opened a copy of this very book, Jodi was drawn into the beautiful world J.R.R. Tolkien had managed to create. It created images so vivid it was as if the surrounding world had disappeared and she was in Middle Earth. She could almost hear her mothers voice, reading in tones and accents to match each of the individual characters, just as she'd done when she was a child.
She was only drawn out of it three chapters in by Spencer lightly tapping her shoulder with the point of a paper folder. When did he get up? What the hell? What time is it?
Jodi blinked twice, then sighed. "Case?"
"Mhmm."
She closed the book and grabbed her bag. "Well, let's go get Gideon."
They made their way down the hall, only pausing so Spencer could prove to her that he knew the exact measurement of the corkboard pasted on the wall, then wandered back down the halls towards the Criminology class. She kept the tailor's tape measure in her wandering bag for a reason.
"I beat you, by the way." She glanced up at the sound of his voice, showing she was paying attention. "I finished my book before you got through the second chapter of yours."
Jodi immediately picked up on the underlying pride in the statement, and let out a breathy chuckle. "I should know better than to try and beat you at something, shouldn't I?"
"There's a variety of things you excel at that I don't," Spencer shook his head lightly, bumping his elbow with hers in a manner familiar to them both. They both knew that his comment held only a slim bit of truth.
He was sporting a tiny smile and would periodically push his glasses up in his nose like she'd watched Gideon do numerous times, and he seemed much more relaxed than he had an hour ago. Books had that effect on them both.
"Oh yeah, like what?" She scoffed.
The response was instant. "Knowledge revolving around J.R.R. Tolkien's novels...naming songs from the seventies, even though it's usually Elvis for you...drinking."
Jodi laughed. "That's not fair, those aren't even cool things. They're just kind of sad...true, but still sad."
She twisted the door handle open so he wouldn't have to touch it, allowing him to step through with the case file. The opening door caught Gideon's attention so all Spencer did was hold up the file they'd been given and give it a muted tap. Jodi stood next to him and mouthed case.
Gideon inhaled sharply and turned to the class, "excuse me."
Immediately when they were out the door, Spencer was sorting through the case file and began briefing Gideon with all the information available while Jodi dug through the contents of her bag for gum. She caught a brief glance at the open report, and managed to read the lower half of the page before they turned a corner and Spencer's shoulder blocked her view. "They're calling him the Seattle Strangler; four victims in four months. He keeps them alive seven days, the handle there—" he was pointing at a photo of the crime scene he'd flipped to "—serves as a crank."
Jodi choked slightly on her gum as she caught a glimpse of the image, smiling sheepishly at Gideon as he looked at her out of worry. "Sorry, it's just been a while since I last saw a dead person...is something I never thought I'd ever say, wow."
"It allows him to control the rate of suffocation," Gideon concluded, merely shaking his head tiredly in response to her end comment.
"To prolong it?" Spencer guessed. Jodi snatched the file from him and skimmed over it.
"To enjoy it," he confirmed. "Seattle's hit a wall?"
"If the case was based on physical evidence they'd have maybe three things to show.," Jodi hummed as she tucked her hair behind her ears. "Another girl went missing not that long ago, and they still have no leads."
They moved back to Gideon's office, and the pair waited patiently next to his desk as he analysed the case-file. "I looked the case-file over, I'll get some thoughts to you asap," he sighed after nearly fifteen minutes, and pushed his reading glasses further up on his nose.
Who the hell is he talking to? We already have his thoughts?
Jodi jumped at the sound of a man's voice, accidentally bumping Spencer's arm which caused her to mumble out several apologies. "You're going to be with us in Seattle, asap."
She paused. I know that voice.
She turned to look and found Agent Aaron Hotchner — Hotch, as she'd grown to know him — walking through the open office door. Another Agentwas right behind him. She had met Derek Morgan the one time on her very first day and as he was assigned to a new case right after, she hadn't seen him much. He carried another case file.
Gideon looked up and pulled off his glasses. Clearly he'd been expecting them. Derek held up a photo of a blonde woman. "Twenty-three year old Heather Woodland," he introduced, allowing Gideon to take it from him.
"Is she the latest victim?" Jodi hummed curiously, pushing her gum to the back of her cheek and crossed arms folded over her chest. Speaking was a little difficult, but it was better than accidentally spitting gum at someone.
"Before she went for lunch," Hotch confirmed. "She downloaded an email with a time delayed virus attached. The killer's virus wiped her hard-drive and left only this on the screen."
He handed Gideon another picture and Jodi moved to stand beside him so she could read it as well. The phrase FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE CATCH ME BEFORE I KILL I CANNOT CONTROL MYSELF was repeated over and over across the computer screen in question.
Gideon read it aloud. Jodi found her attention was drawn to the framed image of a famous crime scene created by William Heirens, patented The Lipstick Killer, with that exact phrase smudged across the wall in lipstick.
"He never keeps them for more than seven days, which means we have fewer than thirty six hours to find her," Hotch stressed, though his expression was still composed.
Jodi moved back to stand with Spencer, who had since sat down on a wooden side table Gideon used to hold old papers. She was silently hoping they'd go, having grown interested in returning to the BAU, but wouldn't dream of doing so without either of her two most trusted partners.
Even though it had been just six months since meeting either of them, she already held them in a closer regard than even her biological family.
Not that they were a good example of what family should be, but that was a different conversation entirely.
She could see Spencer watching her from the corner of her eye, now that she was paying proper attention, with both curiosity and concern.
To assure him, she simply patted his arm while subconsciously being careful to avoid touching any exposed skin so he wouldn't be uncomfortable. She then offered him a small smile. Thinking about her family was something meant for therapy offices, not in front of her boss.
Certainly not when a woman's life was in their hands.
"They want you back in the saddle," Morgan prompted, drawing her out of her thoughts. "You up for it?"
Spencer's mouth twisted to one corner. "It looks like medical leave is over, Boss."
Nothing in Gideon's expression betrayed what he felt as he stared at Hotch. "You sure they want me?" He asked finally.
Hotch's expression didn't change, either. "The order came from the director," he confirmed.
After taking one last long look at the framed photo on his wall, Gideon sighed. "Then we'd better get started."
👣🔪🧬
They were driven directly to the airport.
The team was set up into two black SUV's and divided themselves to fit. Naturally, Jodi went with Spencer. The only time they were separated was after hours.
The airport was full of cheap but nice furniture and tiny cafes. There were half a dozen walkways and entrances to various departure gates. But the FBI had managed to pull together the funds to provide the BAU team with their own private jet to be used under the circumstances — more often than not — where they had to travel for a case.
Jodi had only been on it the one time, and after growing up with hand-me-downs and limited access to many things she knew people took for granted, still found it incredible that they had such luxuries at their disposal.
She wound up sitting next to Hotch in the seat directly across from Spencer. Morgan leaned forward on the back of her chair, while Gideon was just returning from the small built-in coffee station as they began reviewing the case.
"The first victim was twenty-six year old Melissa Kersh," Spencer read out methodically. "Visible stab wounds, strangulation—"
"—Wait wait wait, back up a second," Morgan cut him off. Jodi felt a slight breeze on the back of her neck as he waved his hands while he talked. "He stabbed her, then strangled her to finish her off?"
"Maybe he wasn't physically strong enough to hold her down to strangle her by hand," Jodi suggested, habitually scratching at the skin on the heel of her palm.
"Good thinking, but the injuries were inflicted the other way around; strangulation then stabbing," Gideon corrected, though she could see a twinkle of pride in his kind eyes. "Why do you think he started using the belt with the second murder?"
"That could correlate to what Jodi said," Spencer suggested. "Strangulation with your bare hands isn't as easy as one would believe. He tried, probably figured out that it took too long—"
"—So he stabbed her instead," Morgan concluded, shaking his head in not-so-discrete disgust.
"Then likely spent hours cleaning up the body," Hotch agreed.
There was a moment of silence as they all processed it. Jodi pulled her lips in at the corners in a silent grimace, and nodded. The clean-up from stabbing Melissa Karsh helped them learn it wasn't their style.
"The next kill, our boys got a method; the belt," Morgan added in.
"A whole lot less messy," Jodi murmured.
Gideon nodded. "He's learning, perfecting his scenario. Becoming a better killer."
"He's probably got somewhere out of the city, or at least somewhat secluded because no one heard Melissa Kersh screaming. No one reported it, anyway," Jodi hummed, squinting her eyes. She'd unfocused and zoned out watching Gideon stir his coffee for a good two minutes now.
"That makes sense," Morgan acknowledged, shifting his stance so he was no longer relying on the back of her chair for balance.
While waving his hand to get her attention, Gideon said,"we'll keep that in mind while putting the profile together."
They all had their bags checked upon arriving at the Seattle Police Department. King County Municipal Complex. Jodi only had to briefly explain to the officer at the metal detector that she had a prosthetic right leg, and they were more than welcome to give her a pat down if it would make them feel better before they were all allowed through. Hotch stepped in before anything was done and she was sent right through. Spencer had waited off to the side for her and fell into the same pace as they crossed the parking lot to go inside.
Gideon had left only moments before them, and she was only mildly surprised to have a bitterly concerned Morgan appear on her other side. "He never stands with his back to a window," he muttered, lightly smacking Spencer's shoulder to get his attention. Jodi squinted slightly at the action, but upon seeing Spencer fine with it she shrugged it off. "When I was between him and a doorway, he asked me to move."
"Hyper-vigilance," she hummed through a small yawn, stretching out her back and arms.
"It's not uncommon in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder," Spencer confirmed.
Morgan glanced quickly between him and Gideon's retreating figure twice. He wasn't entirely convinced. "Just how much disorder are we talking, here?"
"Morgan, it's been six months."
Jodi yelped and stumbled into Morgan when Hotch spoke; she hadn't heard him at all. Morgan was quick to steady her.
With a shake of his head, Hotch continued. "Everything's fine."
Jodi did a mix of humming and mumbling lyrics quietly to herself as she followed the two into the bullpen. They put their things down on an empty corner of desks. She tapped her fingers against her thigh as she went. "Little child, little child...little child, won't you dance with me...I'm so sad and so lonely...baby take a chance with me..."
"The Beatles?" Spencer smiled at her. "Good choice."
"What other choice would I make?" She scoffed dramatically while trying to hide a smile.
She quickly stopped as she almost ran straight into Hotch's back. It was Spencer who steadied her this time, which she found surprising. It was only his arm flying to her back with his bag preventing any contact, but he often avoided as many physical interactions as he could.
"This is Special Agent Gideon; Special Agent Morgan, our expert on obsessional crimes; Special Agent McCoy; Special Agent Reid—"
"—Doctor Reid," Gideon interrupted abruptly, correcting him without a moment's hesitation.
A brief moment of silence. "Oh, um, Doctor Reid," Hotch corrected himself. "He's our expert on...well...everything, and after two years of busting my butt in this office, I hope you remember me."
Jodi shot Spencer a look as she set her bag down on top of the desk Hotch was standing beside, and through the corner of her mouth mumbled, "forgot I was a Special Agent for a second there...whoops."
"How do you forget that?" Spencer muttered back and set his belongings next to hers. "What could possibly be going through your mind and distract you so greatly you forget your entire profession."
She stared at him blankly. "I was thinking about The Beatles; duh."
He sighed. "I should know this by now."
"You really should, Doc."