┏ ┐
└ ┛
"long ago, I reached for you and there you stood. holding you again could only do me good... oh, how I wish I could- but you're so far away."
(so far away, carole king)
﹝•••﹞
"Elaine Rapp, age 9, was taken from her Stratton, Vermont cabin late last night,"
Penelope Garcia began, clicking a little remote that flashed a picture of a young girl up on the screen in the conference room. Gianna had only been at her desk for maybe 10 minutes before SSA Asshat called the whole team in to review a case they would be taking on this week. Dave had tried to talk to her about what happened in the office, but Gianna was pulled away before she could spill anything. This made her resent for Hotchner only grow.
"Elaine is the third girl in the past four weeks to have gone missing at this small ski resort. And unfortunately..."
Penelope flashed two pictures of the two previous victims' deceased bodies.
"Our previous two victims were killed after being in our unsub's possession for nearly a week."
Gianna looked down at her file. All three of the girls taken looked nearly identical.
"It's January, which means that its peak ski season,"
Gianna pitched in.
"Tourism in ski resorts is at an all time high during this time of year. These murders can't be good for publicity or revenue."
"Actually, in the Unites States alone, around 14.94 million people go skiing every year, and 7.56 million snowboard. Most ski resorts are located around Utah and Colorado, but there are plenty up north in Vermont and New Hampshire. Even West Virginia has a handful."
As Spencer Reid spoke, he twirled his pen in his hand. Gianna watched as he spoke so freely- as if he knew everything off the top of his head.
"Wha-"
"Don't ask."
Dave stopped her before she could even bring it up.
"The autopsy showed no signs of sexual assault. The COD was asphyxiation."
Penelope continued.
"There is no noticeable bruising around the young girls' necks, indicating that the unsub was most likely not strong enough to physically choke the victims to death,"
Derek spoke as he looked through his file.
Gianna thought for a moment.
"Could this unsub be a woman?"
The entire team looked up to her, including Hotch.
"Why do you think that, Gi?"
Dave turned to her.
"The lack of sexual assault, the suffocation... I feel like our unsub is female."
Hotch shook his head.
"We can't be sure of that."
Gianna scoffed. Not this again.
"To be fair, we can't really be sure of anything when it comes to profiling, sir."
Hotch rolled his lips in frustration and cleared his throat.
"I am not steering this investigation in that direction until we can all be certain."
Gianna didn't break eye contact with him. She wanted him to see that she wasn't afraid.
"That's fine. But at least tell me your explanation as to why you don't think this unsub is a woman."
"The lack of sexual assault could point to impotence, and the asphyxiation a sign of physical weakness."
Gianna rested her elbows on the table and leaned forward.
"Yes, but in that case, wouldn't the unsub have stabbed these young girls to death? That's how most impotent killers take out their sexual rage."
Hotch exhaled with frustration, and Gianna noticed the other team members watching this go down intently. They all looked so... confused- yet intrigued.
"Not necessarily. He could have taken a souvenir-"
"But we aren't sure of that."
Hotch was visibly angered by this statement. He gritted his teeth with held back rage as he try to spoke in a civil manner. He clenched his fists together on the table as he made direct eye contact with Gianna. His voice was now deep and demanding- something Gianna hadn't seen.
"And we also aren't sure that this unsub is a woman. Now I suggest you stop questioning me so we can go and save this young girl's life, Agent Valentina."
He gave her a look that could freeze over hell. Yet, Gianna still wasn't afraid. She wasn't going to let herself be spooked by a man who wasn't going to trust her.
"Wheels up. Not in thirty- NOW."
Hotch got up with pure anger and stormed out of the room, heading straight for the jet. The rest of the team was left speechless in the room, not knowing how to respond.
"Okay- now you HAVE to tell me what happened in his office earlier,"
Emily stated before walking out of the room to follow Hotch. The rest of the team let out a series of nervous chuckled before also exiting. Dave, however, stayed behind.
"What was that all about?"
He sat on the edge of the table, Gianna still in her seat.
"He was trying to intimidate me. Thats a power dynamic I'm not going to deal with here."
Dave rolled his eyes.
"Gi, he's your boss. He hired you. I know you don't like it, but you need to show him some respect."
Gianna rolled her eyes.
"But he's such a dou-"
"Gianna."
Gianna groaned as her uncle looked at her sternly, reminding her that she was a Rossi and she needed to be somewhat well behaved.
"Fine."
She stood up and placed a small kiss on Dave's head.
"Thanks."
As Gianna tried to exit the room, Dave called after her.
"He will warm up to you, ya know. He's going through a lot, but he will get there."
Gianna rolled her eyes.
Yeah. Sure he would.
﹝•••﹞
"This jet is fuc- I mean... freaking huge!"
Gianna's jaw dropped to the floor as soon as she entered the jet. She knew it would be luxurious, but she had no idea it would be like this. Gianna had never even been on a plane that wasn't a commercial airline. This was definitely going to take some getting used to.
"I want to live here!"
Gianna looked around the jet like a child at Disney world for the first time. This made the rest of the team laugh, except for Hotch who simply sat down and stared out the window angrily.
Typical.
"Trust me, it will get old fast."
JJ spoke before sitting down across from Hotch. Gianna sat on the couch across from Hotch and JJ but next to Dave, while Spencer sat in one of the smaller chairs across from Emily. Derek sat by himself near the back of the jet and put his headphones on, trying to find some zen.
Gianna sat and read a book for a little bit while Dave fell asleep on the couch. The jet had taken off and they were about 45 minutes into the ride before Hotch called them all over to debrief. He had Garcia on video call via the laptop on his table, and they all circled around to break down the case one last time before they landed.
"This unsub doesn't sexually assault these girls. Why?"
'Because she's a woman,'
Gianna wanted to blurt out so bad. But she felt Dave's eyes drill a hole in the side of her head, so she reluctantly stayed quiet.
"He could see these girls as a child. Maybe he's trying to save them,"
Emily started, shifting her position in her seat.
"It's possible that he had a daughter himself who was taken from him or had recently passed."
JJ looked over to Hotch for approval on her theory- and he gave her a nod in return.
"It's possible."
The whole time that the team theorized about this unsub, Gianna just wanted to crawl out of her skin. Something inside of her just knew that this unsub was a woman. But Hotch wouldn't listen.
"The same situation could be applied to a woman."
Gianna spoke up, knowing damn well that Hotch would not be pleased.
"If she is a mother and recently lost her child, she could be "saving" these young girls in an attempt to gain the daughter she recently lost. Maybe while in captivity, something goes wrong, and she snaps. But instead of killing them with force and anger, she suffocates them with a bag- or a pillow maybe, because she still sees these girls as her child. Maybe she wants to save them."
The rest of the team looked at her in surprise while Hotch looked at her with disapproval.
"Once again, we cannot prove that this unsub is a woman-"
"Hotch, I think she's right."
Morgan began, leaving Gianna with slight relief.
"Me too."
Emily also spoke up.
"If our unsub was a male, these crime scenes wouldn't have been so pristine. He would have also killed the girls much earlier and with much more force."
Gianna couldn't help but to feel a little smug as she watched Hotch get taken down by his own team. She wanted so badly to laugh in his face... to show him how it felt to be teamed up against. But he looked... disappointed. Not angry. Hotch looked sad, almost. His face drooped down as he looked to his case file. He didn't look to Gianna in anger like he did before... He was upset.
This struck Gianna for some reason.
"Let's go with that, I suppose,"
Hotch mumbled while looking down to his watch.
"When we land, Reid and JJ go to the PD and talk to the parents of Elaine and the other victims. Prentiss, Rossi, and Morgan, go to the crime scenes. Valentina, you're with me to go to the morgue."
What?
The team let out a series of agreements as they digested their given tasks. But before Gianna could even comprehend why Hotch would want to partner himself with her, he met her eyes. And this time, they weren't angry or demeaning... they wanted to say something.
But what?
﹝•••﹞
A/N:
yo im so sorry its been a hot sec since I've updated! like i said on my page, I've been sick so I've had basically no motivation to write. but tonight i updated both of my stories so im super happy! from now on i think ill be making shorter chapter though just because ill be able to write more.
thank you all for reading!
- goobstan <3