Smart Girl(A Criminal Minds/Spencer Reid Fan-fiction) BOOK TWO

Chapter Eleven: Old Recollections and New-found Annoyance

        "We know what connects the victims." Spencer said as we approached Hotch. We showed him their pictures on the screen. "We were staring at pictures of the victims, and we knew there was a pattern, but we couldn't tell what it was until we broke it down mathematically."

        'We're so drawn to celebrity faces because there's a symmetry to their beauty, such us the eyes, the ears, and the ratio from the chin to the forehead. The more balance their facial features are, the more appealing to the eye they appear."

        'Though these women aren't celebrities, there are similarities between them. It wasn't until we scanned the pictures and got them back to the guys at  Quantico that we got the full break down.' Spencer continued.

        "Strip away the aspects of eye color, hair color, and skin tone, and geometrically, they're all slightly despotic, with the left eye, lower then the right eye, the noses narrow, and the forehead having the same ridge." 

        "He might not even know he sees it in them. There are studies that suggest that we select our spouses subconsciously based on the facial symmetry that we recognize." Spencer said.

         'So consciously or unconsciously, when he recognizes it, he has to destroy it." Rossi said.

        "Which means he only has interest in the body as they relate back to him."

        "Maybe, they're a reflection. Remember what he did at the end of the video?"

        'He wiped the tear away." Prentiss pointed out.

        "Another act of compassion he's not capable of. His Narcissism prevents him from that."

        "In the Greek myth, Narcissis was so self-absorbed that he fell in love with his own reflection in the water."Spencer added.

        "Exactly. He finds women with the same face, he strangles them, and then he stares at them after they've died. But who's image does he really see?"

        'His own."

~~~
        Garcia called us. She'd been tracking the guy online. We looked at the feed live. 

        "Look at the way he's moving. It's not slow and deliberate. This guy's ticked." Rossi noticed.

        "All right, what do we see? Determining markers."

        "A one story cottage." 

        'That could be anywhere."

        'Is there a number on the house?" Morgan asked.

        'No, he's already at the door."

        'Garcia?"

        "He's using twice as many proxy servers." 

        "This little box by the window is that the chat room?"

        'He's in the house guys." Spencer told us.

        "He's completely changed his MO. It's too early. There's too much light. What happened?"

        'Someone asked the wrong question at the press conference." 

        "Oh my gosh, turn around, just turn around." 

        "New kitchen appliances, can we track them through work orders?" 

        'He'll be gone by then." Rossi said.

        'Garcia, give us something." I hid my face in Spencer's shoulder as the woman died on her kitchen floor.

~~~
        We all headed to the hotel, shaken up and more determined then ever. I laid in bed and stared up at the ceiling. 

        "Are you ok?" Spencer asked. 

        "We haven't watched someone be murdered in their own home since Tobias. I find now that...just the littlest things remind me of it. Should that happen? I mean, it's over now it's been two, three years?" I sat up. "Is something wrong with me?" He sat next to me.

        "No. I think about it too." I sighed and buried my face in my knees. He put his arm around me and kissed my head. 

~~~

        When I woke up the next morning, Spencer was gone. I got up and got dressed. As I was doing my hair, I saw something on the wall behind a plant. I peered around to see that it was a camera. I backed away, into someone. I screamed.

~~~Spencer~~~

        "Garcia, do you have any pictures?" The pictures appeared and I was shocked at what I saw."Oh my gosh."  

        "That's Marianne."

~~~Marianne~~~

        I struggled against the hook. My hands were tied to a hook above my head. There was a rag over my mouth and I was surrounded by the hanging bodies of the other victims. He sat there watching, a video camera and computer in front of him. My feet were barely touching the ground. I managed to get the cloth off of my mouth.

        "You're an idiot." I told him. He put on his ski mask and latex gloves.  He came towards me and then I heard the beep that meant Garcia shut down his internet. 

        "NO! NO!" He rushed towards me. His hands closed around my throat.  I swang my legs foreword and kicked him, hitting just the right spot. He groaned and I rose up on the hook, landing a hard blow to his chest. He fell backwards, falling onto the laptop. The team rushed in and Morgan held him down. Prentiss rushed over to me and started untying my hands.

        "Why is it always me? I'm not even scared at this point, I'm just annoyed." I said. She laughed and sighed at the same time.

        'Oh, Marianne, you are something else."