Make Me Smile

“The un-sub brought his weapon with him.” Gideon began to give the profile to the police men that were sat around the room.

“Tape. Glue, Wire. He did not leave them at the scene. Took them when he left. He has some kind of killing kit that he carries.” Hotchner took over from there.

“Organized killers usually have a skilled job, likely technology related, which may involve the use of the hands. The crime scenes are far enough apart, so he needs a vehicle. This will be well kept, obsessively clean, as well a will be his home. He is diurnal. He attacks during the day, so vehicle may be related to his work. Possibly a company car or a truck.”

“We believe that he watches his victims for a time,” cut in Morgan.

“You won’t catch him accidentally”, finished Hotch, letting Gideon to continue from there.

“He destroys symbols of wealth in the victim’s homes. He has a hatter toward the people of the higher class. He feels invisible around them.”

“Classes the theme of the poem which he left at various crime scenes. At one point the woman who attempts to bribe Death, but he doesn’t accept. He says that this is the one moment when riches me nothing. When death comes poor and the rich are exactly alike.” Reid explained the connection of the verses with the case.

“So he is poor?” asked one of the cops. Hotch went on to answer the cops question.

“Probably middle class, then a lower class person would stick out in a highly patrolled neighborhood. This guy appears to belong there. He blends in.”

“So why does he glues their eyes open?” wondered the detective who was the one to bring Morgan and Gideon to the house of the last victim. I saw Gideon nodding at me, signaling that I should answer this.

“The un-sub is an exploitative rapist. Most rape victims close their eyes during the attack. Turn their heads and for some rapist this ruins the fantasy. But this type of rapist the goal is more related to the victim watching him then the act itself.”

“The verses, the staging, the aggressive language “I am Death”. This is a guy who while being in control of the crime scene almost certainly feels integument in the rest of his life,” carried on Hotchner.

“This why he couldn’t figure out what he’s done. He needed to make sure that all his crimes were counted. His victims, they represent what’s controlling him and he wants that control back. He is under the thumb of a powerful woman, who frightens him. And a final point, he is white,” finished Gideon.

“We have witnesses that identify him as a black male,” protested Captain Griffith, looking somewhat angry.

“The attacker was black, he is not the Tommy Killer,” clarified Gideon.

“Mrs. Gordon’s husband came home at the same time he does every day. Tommy Killer would have known that,” cut in Hotchner to clear the confusion. I took this as my chance to carry on to explain to why this wasn’t the same attacker.

“Mrs. Gordon attacker wore a ski mask. The un-sub knows that when he is going into a house he is going to kill the woman who lives there. If he is not living any witnesses why wear a ski mask?”

“And he wants his victims to see him anyways,” answered Morgan. The discussion went on for another few minutes, with Hotch explaining further more to why it was not the same attacker. I mentioned the guy who delivers groceries to the Gordon’s Household, and that he fitted to the description of Mrs. Gordon’s attacker. Griffith was angry, claiming that we were back at zero. Hotchner said otherwise and they stepped into an office so that Hotchner would clear him up on our plan. The plan was simple. The plan was to reveal the black man who attacked Mrs. Gordon as the Tommy Killer, which would anger the un-sub and cause him to contact the police, because he wouldn’t want anyone else to take credit for his job. And once he calls Garcia would try to track down the call from her office in Quantico.

While Prentiss and Morgan went to arrest the guy, J.J was talking to the reporters saying that the murderer of the six crimes was arrested. Morgan and Emily made sure that the reporters saw the black guy, which added to the story.

“He confessed Mrs. Gordon attack before we got him to the car,” said Emily as Morgan dragged the guy into the room. J.J let us know that the footage made it on the 11 o’clock news. Hearing this Hotch told me to call Garcia. I dialed her number, and waited for it to connect.

“Go, for Penelope Garcia,” came her voice through the speakers of the phone.

“You ready for the tracking trace?” I asked her.

“Peaches, this is the office of Unmitigated Superiority. I am always ready. The awesome power I have in this room, all I need is 15 seconds on the phone to nail this skeevy perv.”

“15 seconds?” I repeated making sure I heard her right.

“If that,” she said. I seriously had no idea of her skills with technology. I just hoped she was right about needing less than 15 seconds to track the un-sub. I stayed on the line so that I could give her the sign to start tracking once un-sub called. Everyone was frustrated including me, it was torture to just sit and wait for one of the phones to ring. I looked over at Reid who was playing with a Rubik’s cube.

“Do you think it's weird that I knew that ballad?” I overheard Reid say ask Prentiss.

“Reid, I don't know how you know half the stuff you know, but I'm glad you do,” she answered sincerely. I smiled as I heard her say that, it was indeed quite a wonder that Spencer knew so much.

“Do you think that’s why I can’t get a date?” he wondered.

“Have you ever asked anyone?” asked him Emily. I saw him shifting his eyes.

“No,” he said. I was surprised at this, girls should be chasing him. But then again he is very shy.

“That’s why you can’t get a date,” she answered. Right after Emily said that the phone rang. Detective Martin was the one to answer it. He then signaled that it was the un-sub. I immediately notified Penelope saying that he was on line 6. The rest of the team gathered around the phone and Gideon put the un-sub on speaker so that we all could hear what he had to say.

“Stupid, incompetent sons of bitches! I don't make mistakes!” shouted a furious voice from the speakers.

“I am Death! You hear me? I am Death! You'll see now, tomorrow. Mark my words, you will see. And while I'm taking her, I'm gonna be thinking of you." The line went dead. I quickly gathered my focus back to the phone that was in my hand.

“Anything?” I asked Garcia.

“An-anything? I, uh, I don’t know,” she stutter.

“I had definitely enough time to get a location, but I got nothing. Absolutely nothing. Let me work on this.” I could hear the panic in her voice. I guessed this didn’t happen often. I kept her on the line as I turned to the others and repeated that she had nothing on the un-sub.

“Nothing?” questioned Morgan, shocked.

“We missed him?” wondered Hotchner. Morgan let out a sigh of frustration. The un-sub was going to kill again tomorrow and we had absolutely nothing that could link us to him. I just hoped that we would catch that bastard before he strikes again. Seeing that there was nothing more we could do for the day Hotchner decided to call it a night. Just then I noticed how exhausted and hungry, seeing that I haven’t eaten at all today, I felt. I grabbed my duffel bag where I left it and walked outside to the SUV’s that were provided for our team. I climbed in the backseat. Derek was at the wheel and Reid sat in the passenger seat. Derek started the car and began driving to the hotel that we would be staying in for the night.

I must have fallen asleep from the lack of energy, because the next thing I knew I was gently shaken awake. As I opened my eyes I came face to face with Spencer. I let out a quiet groan. I was frustrated that I have fallen asleep.

“How long was I asleep for?” I wondered, whilst running a hand through my blonde hair.

“Um, just about 15 minutes,” he told me, stuffing his hands into his jeans pockets. I just nodded as I looked around noticing two things. First, that we were outside the hotel and second, that Derek was nowhere to be seen. So I questioned Spencer again.

“He just went in a minute ago to check us in,” came his reply. I nodded once again and grabbed my bag ready to get out the car. I was surprised as Spencer offered me his hand for support as I climbed out of the massive vehicle. I thanked him and close the car door behind me. The car made a loud ‘beep’ sound which startled me, making me jump and bump into Reid. I lost balance for a moment but Spencer grabbed me by the waist before I fell over. He steadied me. I noticed that his hands were still by my waist.

“Spence, you can let go now,” I said with a blush creeping itself onto my cheeks. Reid immediately let his hands fall to his sides, avoiding any eye contact. He was obviously embarrassed. I heard laughter coming not so far from where we were standing. Derek stood there amused by the whole situation. He dangled the car keys, making me realize that it was him who locked the car, causing it to ‘beep’ and causing this whole incident between Spencer and me. As I was just inches away from him he threw me my room keys, which I caught with ease. I punched him on the arm.

“Dude, so not cool,”I told him referring to the incident.

“C’mon you know you didn’t mind that.” He let out a chuckle which earned him another punch on the arm. I hoped that it hurt. He just laughed am at my fail attempt.

“Well baby girl, that’s where we part,” he said as we stopped in the hall outside the elevator that broke off into two different hallways. He then passed Reid his room keys and bid us good night walking off to his room. I turned to Reid.

“What room are you in?” I asked making small talk.

“103. You?” he told me.

“104. Right next to yours.” I let out a small laugh as we walked into the opposite direction that Derek went to. I heard my stomach gnarl from hunger. I let out a sigh.

“Ugh, I’m starving. You hungry?” I asked turning my head to look at him. He shook his head no, but at the same time his stomach gnarled.

“Liar,” I sang causing him to blush. He got embarrassed so easily. I smiled at him and suggested that we should order something to eat from room service. I told him that I was going to change quickly and come over. After he agreed, I we went into our separate rooms. I locked the door and set the key on the nearby table and threw by bag next to the bed. I noticed that there were two other doors beside the main one, opposite of each other. The closest one, which was on my right led into the bathroom. I took my blazer off setting it on the back of one of the chairs and went to investigate the other door. When I opened it I came face to face with another door. I realized that it led into Reid’s room, meaning that the rooms where conjoined. I rolled my eyes, knowing exactly that this was Derek’s doing. I ditched the clothes I was wearing for a pair of gray sweatpants and a blue tank top and went back to the conjoined door, knocking on it softly.

Spencer opened it looking at me dumbfounded, probably confused to why I was standing behind a random door.

“We got conjoined rooms,” I said with a laugh. He smiled sheepishly and let me in.

“So, what are you in the mood for?” I asked looking at the menu that was on his bed side table.

“Chinese?” he asked with a smile. It was then that I noticed that he had changed. He was wearing light plaid PJ's pants and a baggy gray shirt. His hair was a mess of waves. I must admit that he looked adorable. I blushed, praying that I didn’t stare for too long.

“Chinese it is then.” I picked up the phone and called room service ordering enough for the both of us. Finished with ordering I turned to face Spencer who was lying down on his bed with his back propped against the headboard, reading a newspaper. I sat down at the end of the bed, crossing my legs Indian style. I stole another glance at Reid. He was focused on the paper reading quickly through it, he seemed peaceful like he wasn’t working on a case chasing murders. I let out a sigh. I seemed to do this a lot lately. Spencer looked over at me.

“You okay?” he asked, his eyes full with concern.

“Yeah, just thinking about the case. This is the worse I’ve worked on so far. But I guess it only going to go up on the horror scale.” I smiled sadly, brushing my fingers through my hair.

“Why did you take the job, if it bothers you?” he asked, setting the newspaper down on the bedside table.

“It was a big job opportunity I didn’t want to slip.” I smiled. It was the truth. This was probably the best job I would have ever gotten. There was a knock on the door. Reid was going to open it but I beat him to it. I opened the door revealing a guy in the hotel uniform holding a tray of food. I thanked him taking the tray and closing the door with my foot. I placed the tray on the small coffee table that was in the room. I sat down with Spencer joining me moments later. We ate with conversation filling the room. We mainly talked about work. After we finished the food, I plopped on his bed facing the ceiling.

“God, that was delicious,” I said closing my eyes. I heard Spencer laugh and felt the bed sink down a bit from where he sat down. I opened my left eye to look at him. He sat just few inches away. I smirked before poking him in his side. He let out a yelp of surprise.

“That’s what you get for laughing at me.” I stuck my tongue out at him, glaring at him playfully. Next thing I know he lunged at me, tickling me. I was laughing my head off. I wouldn’t have been surprised if the whole hotel heard me. I tried to wriggle out of his grip but he was stronger than me.

“Spen..ce haha..s..hah.stop,” I managed to get out. He stopped but still hovered over me. His face held a big smile. He obviously enjoyed torturing me. I then realized how close we were. He must have noticed as well because he quickly got off, apologizing. I chucked at his shyness and poked his nose. He looked stunned for a second then laughed. This made me smile. He really was warming up to me. I noticed that it was really late.

“It’s late we should go sleep,” I told him pointing at the clock that read 2.45AM. I bit him goodnight and gave him a hug, which he returned without any hesitation. I walked back to my room closing his door behind me. The lack of sleep took over my body, the moment my head touched the pillow, I was out cold.