Change My Mind ~ Criminal Minds (Aaron Hotchner x OC)

102.0: Issues Uncovered

A/N: Continuation of 8x06 The Apprenticeship 

TRIGGER WARNING: KIDNAPPING, S*XUAL ASS*ULT (R*PE), GROOMING, MENTIONED ANIMAL ABUSE

WHOLE CHAPTER IS A TRIGGER WARNING PLEASE READ WITH CAUTION

"Perhaps that is where our choice lies -- in determining how we will meet the inevitable end of things, and how we will greet each new beginning."
― Elana K. Arnold

Another body was found the next morning, the murders were getting closer and closer together. Crystal was feeling better than before, so she went with Rossi, JJ, and Hotch to look at the new body. Ogilvie lead them and motioned to it, "Jogger found it this morning, said his dog went crazy and that's how he found it." Rossi walked over to get a better look, "They're not bothering to even hide the bodies." Crystal nodded as they all looked at the body, a plastic bag was over her head just like the others. "They're not worried about us connecting them to the victims, arrogance."

"What do we know about her?" Hotch asked and Ogilvie looked at his notepad, "Name's Shawna Radford, 21 year old prostitute. Some of my guys have seen her around before, she doesn't trick anywhere near here." JJ was inspecting the body, "There's no bite marks like the last victim, she's got a lot of swelling and bruising though." Rossi was inspecting the damage done to her head, "This could've been a hammer." 

"So why do they even need the bag?" Ogilvie asked and Hotch looked over at him, "Suffocation's a form of torture, they enjoy watching her suffer." Crystal nodded, "Suffocation gives them the satisfaction of watching her struggle and gives them power over her, it gives them an adrenaline high of sorts." JJ looked up from the body, "It's also become a signature, it's like a ritual now and it's their M.O." Hotch gave a nod, "And this combines elements of the first and second murders."

Rossi stood back up, "So the first time was violent and sloppy, no planning or any forensic countermeasures. Just pure rage, but the second murder was more sophisticated. If this is a team, one of them night be much younger than the other." Crystal looked over at him, "And less experienced, I'm guessing that the first murder was the younger's first time. That lets the second one guide him, show him how it's done."

"He's being taught, the second one is teaching him how to do the killings. The first one was probably done alone, a learning curve."

JJ frowned at this, "What about the second one?" Hotch looked over at her, "A demonstration, the second one is more dominant. This one was them trying to perfect their M.O. together. We're ready to give the profile."

___

Crystal sent a text back to Amy, she wasn't going to be able to call back until this case was over with. Crystal turned and jumped a bit, "Oh, hey Reid." Reid smiled at her, "We're ready to start giving the profile, everything okay?"

"Fine, why?"

"You've been checking your phone every 3 minutes and 15 seconds, you usually don't do that unless something's wrong." Reid answered and she smiled at this, leave it to Dr. Spencer Reid to know when she was troubled. "I'm fine, I just don't know if Amy is. She wants to talk, but we're busy at the moment. It's nothing though, so let's go give the profile." She walked over to the main room with the other officers and Reid followed, once they were all there Hotch started. "Based on victim type and kills zone dynamics, we believe that we're looking for two white males. One who is significantly older than the other."

Rossi took over from there, "The younger unsub is most likely an adolescent, he probably lives in the area. Odds are, he's a student at a local high school." Morgan was sat against on of the desks, he looked over at the officers. "The older unsub is in his late 30s or early 40s. He's sophisticated, so he probably has a violent criminal experience." JJ nodded at this, "You should be looking at ex-cons, and we can't rule out people who've had law enforcement training."