Twisted Vengeance

Catch Me

Hotch dialed Garcia's number. "Garcia, I need you to trace a call. Right now." He spoke before she even got a chance to come up with one of her witty greetings.

"She's on a disposable cell, I can't. I'm sorry, sir. We're going to have to use other ways to find her." Garcia sounded sad that she wasn't able to help.

"Fine, Garcia, record the conversation." Garcia's affirmation followed. Her positive personality could barely show through due to her surroundings.

"Elle, what do you want?" Hotch's voice was annoyed, concerned, and overall more sad than usual. And his voice could be sad a lot.

Elle didn't respond. It was almost as though she was waiting. She tried speaking a few times, but her voice faltered before she could find the right words to say. Was it really a good idea for her to be calling? This was the moment where she would find out everything she needed to know.

"I'm sorry." The first words that Elle spoke were ones that were apologetic. She was apologizing to them? But for what? The team knew that Elle was about to start her end game. She was going to go out with a bang.

"I'm sorry." Elle repeated the same words. "I'm sorry I messed up like this. I'm sorry that I killed those people. I'm sorry that I shot your friend. I'm sorry I left the team. I'm sorry for it all. I never meant to make it such a mess. I never knew that I would go this far, go to these extreme lengths with my motive being completely unclear, even to me. I'm sorry that I let you down."

Suddenly it all made sense to them. Elle had been confused about her motive. So when she shot Emily, she gave a motive, yet that motive entirely conflicted with the profile. "Smart." Spencer was muttering. "Smart- I think I know her motive. She's doing this for," he momentarily paused. "Me."

"Elle," Spencer turned to the phone. "Why are you doing this? I know that part of this thing that you're doing is because of me. But, I don't know more beyond that. Elle, you have to tell us. If you're really sorry, Elle, tell us why."

"I am sorry. Sorry that you aren't being smart right now," Elle's tone changed from remorseful to anger in a split second, all of it directed at Spencer, no one else. She had hardly addressed the rest of the team. "You are a profiler Spencer. For once in your life just think more. For once in your life people want to hear you spit your facts. Stop being clueless and think. Why would I do this for you?"

Everyone was taken aback by Elle's sudden anger. Shocked by it, Spencer turned to storm out of the room. "You can talk to her because I'm not. She's crazy. I don't know what's wrong with her. She doesn't plan on telling us what we need to know."

Elle started speaking. "Wrong again, Reid. You're the only one who can solve this. You're the one equipped with what you need to get me to stop. I can't tell you everything you may need. Spencer, I can't hold your hand all the time. If someone else dies, that," she paused, "is on you, my friend."

Elle shifted her attention to Morgan. "Morgan, I'm sorry you got dragged into this. Ms. Penelope, I'm sorry to you as well. JJ, you're not half bad, you're fine. I'm sorry I shot your girlfriend. I'd be mad if someone ever hurt someone I cared about." Her tone sounded irritated with the last words. Past tense. Meaning this person she wanted to protect no longer had the same value to her.

"I don't think you could catch me. But I want this to end. When Spencer can figure out the why, as Gideon always said, then you'll catch the unsub. Any guesses?" Everyone seemed slightly angry that Elle could quote and understand Gideon just as well as they had been able to. Elle was killing people. She didn't deserve to have ever known Gideon, let alone remember things about who he was when they knew him.

Spencer was thinking. Somehow this all had something to do with him. Smart was the word Elle chose to describe him. But why had Elle shot Emily. Why had she confused all her motives into a string of something that didn't make sense. It was because she was confused. Emily had likely been shot as a way to stop Spencer from seeing Emily as a replacement for Elle. Why was Elle so confused though? What was one thing that could make you question what you had thought you'd known before?

Elle was in love with Spencer. But Elle was trying to push those feelings away. Was that it? "Elle, are you doing this because you're in love with me?"

"Spencer, I'd never thought you would have guessed. It only took you six victims. Wow, Spencer. After the years I'd known you, you never caught on. Good job. You and your profiling skills have not betrayed you. I actually didn't doubt that eventually, you'd figure it out."

"Did you think that killing people would make me notice you?" Spencer's anger rose every second. "Why did you-"

"We're not going to discuss this now. And maybe, it was more about me getting to see you again." Elle's tone changed back to remorseful again. Her rollercoaster of emotions was confusing everyone.

Everyone was looking at Spencer, surprised that his seemingly far fetched conclusion was right. Spencer was rarely wrong, but still, they remained surprised.

"Elle, just turn yourself in. You really think continuing to kill is going to make this better? You think that ending someone else's life is going to give you what you want for your own? Cause Elle, that's fucked up!"

"Enough, Reid," Hotch said quietly. "You're letting her get to you. It's enough."

"I think it's time that I hang up. I'm not done with everything yet. There's one more thing that I still have to do." The line disconnected.