(no subject)
"Yeah, I'll stay here and work up a victimology for this guy." That had been two days ago.
Reid hadn't needed to look back to feel the doubt radiating from Hotch as he left the room, closing the door behind him and leaving Reid to himself.
Left to stare at the board in front of him and the pictures pinned to every inch of it, Reid let his eyes wonder back to the pictures of the first case. It had to be the same UnSub, they had concluded, even if the ways the people were killed differed. And even though Reid had been working on a profile for the last two days without sleep, he remained at a loss for why the victimology had changed so rapidly with each case. 'It could be mean multiple UnSubs, but there's also the possibility of a single person with multiple personalities as well. But we don't have any evidence to support that theory beyond changing M.O.'s. It could also be one UnSub who knows it's us working on the case, and is taunting us.'
At the thought of someone brutally murdering innocent people, and doing it in increasingly horrible ways just to get their attention, Reid's stomach knotted. Over three years with the BAU and still he could barely stomach the cases they dealt with on a daily basis. Gideon had said that it was when the job stopped bothering you that it was time to leave, but sometimes Reid wasn't so sure.
It was these sorts of cases, where there was nothing concrete at all to go on, that it was the worst. But it was also those ones that he wanted to solve the most, that kept pushing all of them to show up for work every morning. As he looked from the pictures of the first case to the ones from the latest ( added only hours ago, bodies discovered when the sun had just barely started to rise ) the knot rose from his stomach to his throat, and he forced it back down.
The most Reid could do for the victims now was to find the killer, and stop him.
He stood, reaching to take one of the photos from the board. He owed it to these people. To every single person who had ever been murdered in cold blood.
Reid turned slightly at the sound of a door opening, watching Morgan walk in from the corner of his eye. As the older man took a seat, he handed him the picture he had taken from the board.
"So, genius, what are your thoughts on the case?"
Reid shifted, stuffing his hands in his pockets somewhat awkwardly. "Well, statistically, murders like the--" "I don't want facts, Reid. I want your thoughts. If it's anything that's going to help this case? It's instinct, and not fact."
Well, that was a change. He took a second to gather his thoughts.
"Alright. Well. Uh. I'm confused, actually. It's pretty...disconcerting for there to be so many different kind of murders that we know are connected. Typically, a person stays to a single victimology, but this UnSub..It feels like they're taunting us. I don't like it. If it is one UnSub with multiple personalities, I doubt any of them are aware of each other. It, you know, bothers me."
As Morgan nodded, he sighed, seating himself again and rubbing his eyes. "Sure you don't wanna go to bed, man? You're not going to figure anything else out if you're half asleep." And Reid gave him a negative, looking back at the board for the millionth time. "I want to solve this. It's been two days. Five families in two days, Morgan. There has to be something."
The man behind him sighed, getting to his feet. "Alright, genius. If you figure it out before the sun comes up, you have my number."
Reid hadn't needed to look back to feel the doubt radiating from Hotch as he left the room, closing the door behind him and leaving Reid to himself.
Left to stare at the board in front of him and the pictures pinned to every inch of it, Reid let his eyes wonder back to the pictures of the first case. It had to be the same UnSub, they had concluded, even if the ways the people were killed differed. And even though Reid had been working on a profile for the last two days without sleep, he remained at a loss for why the victimology had changed so rapidly with each case. 'It could be mean multiple UnSubs, but there's also the possibility of a single person with multiple personalities as well. But we don't have any evidence to support that theory beyond changing M.O.'s. It could also be one UnSub who knows it's us working on the case, and is taunting us.'
At the thought of someone brutally murdering innocent people, and doing it in increasingly horrible ways just to get their attention, Reid's stomach knotted. Over three years with the BAU and still he could barely stomach the cases they dealt with on a daily basis. Gideon had said that it was when the job stopped bothering you that it was time to leave, but sometimes Reid wasn't so sure.
It was these sorts of cases, where there was nothing concrete at all to go on, that it was the worst. But it was also those ones that he wanted to solve the most, that kept pushing all of them to show up for work every morning. As he looked from the pictures of the first case to the ones from the latest ( added only hours ago, bodies discovered when the sun had just barely started to rise ) the knot rose from his stomach to his throat, and he forced it back down.
The most Reid could do for the victims now was to find the killer, and stop him.
He stood, reaching to take one of the photos from the board. He owed it to these people. To every single person who had ever been murdered in cold blood.
Reid turned slightly at the sound of a door opening, watching Morgan walk in from the corner of his eye. As the older man took a seat, he handed him the picture he had taken from the board.
"So, genius, what are your thoughts on the case?"
Reid shifted, stuffing his hands in his pockets somewhat awkwardly. "Well, statistically, murders like the--" "I don't want facts, Reid. I want your thoughts. If it's anything that's going to help this case? It's instinct, and not fact."
Well, that was a change. He took a second to gather his thoughts.
"Alright. Well. Uh. I'm confused, actually. It's pretty...disconcerting for there to be so many different kind of murders that we know are connected. Typically, a person stays to a single victimology, but this UnSub..It feels like they're taunting us. I don't like it. If it is one UnSub with multiple personalities, I doubt any of them are aware of each other. It, you know, bothers me."
As Morgan nodded, he sighed, seating himself again and rubbing his eyes. "Sure you don't wanna go to bed, man? You're not going to figure anything else out if you're half asleep." And Reid gave him a negative, looking back at the board for the millionth time. "I want to solve this. It's been two days. Five families in two days, Morgan. There has to be something."
The man behind him sighed, getting to his feet. "Alright, genius. If you figure it out before the sun comes up, you have my number."