Criminal Minds Series Rewrite: Season One

The Fisher King, Part 1: Final Part

Penelope plays the CD when everyone gets back to the briefing room. You prepare yourself for the worst and hope for the best. The first thing you see is a desk that's full of random clutter–a desk that looks to be in an office with a fireplace. Nothing happens for a few seconds, and then a man hobbles on screen. This unsub is clever because he keeps his face out of view with a black hood and the lighting.

"He moves funny," Hotch observes. "Looks like he's injured or something."

"I assure you," the unsub says in a low voice, "you'll all understand in the end why it must be that way. You might even thank me. You now know you're on a quest. A young girl's life depends on the successful completion of it."

The video changes to a dungeon-like room with bars on the door like a prison cell. Inside the room is a blonde woman who is angry and yelling. She is throwing whatever she can at the camera, angry that she was kidnapped in the first place. She must be the "her" you have to go and save.

"As you can see, she's quite beautiful," the unsub continues, "and in distress. Now please listen closely for there is one rule and this rule must be followed. The one rule is... only the members of your team may participate in the quest."

He starts to list off the names of every agent on your team, and with that, pictures of the team pop up.

"Jason Gideon, Aaron Hotchner, Derek Morgan, Elle Greenaway, Spencer Reid, Y/F/N Y/L/N, Jennifer Jareau, Penelope Garcia. A quest must be completed in the proper way or it isn't a quest, is it? That's it. One rule. Simple. Now, you will be receiving an item soon that will hold the final clue you'll need to finish the quest. You will find you will also need a book which has inspired many an adventure like mine. Believe me when I tell you I'm truly hoping to see you all soon. It will mean a successful end to this adventure... for all of us."

The video shuts off, and you look around the room in confusion.

"This guy's got pictures of us?" Elle gasps.

"What do we do now?" Spencer asks.

"The lock of hair is being analyzed for DNA. There might be something on file."

"I'll get the video to enhance the shots of the girl," JJ offers.

"Let's get the clues on the board. Maybe we can make some sense of something."

"We're gonna play this guy's game?" Elle scoffs.

"What choice do we have, Elle?" you ask and get up.

Gideon gets up and leaves angrily, and if you really pay attention to him, you can see the shadows of tears in his eyes.

"I'll be right back. You guys keep working," Hotch says and follows his friend.

You gather the evidence and pin them to the board. All of this doesn't make sense to you. You need a book that inspires adventure? Which book? What year? What edition? What item is going to come that will hold the final clue? Another victim? There are a lot of unanswered questions in the air, and you hate having this many loose ends.

You run a hand through your hair when you spot Haley Hotchner enter the office from the first floor. What is she doing here? She can be here, obviously, but you rarely see her here. You leave the office at the same time Hotch does from Gideon's office.

"Haley? What are you doing here?"

"A guy dropped this off for you," she says and holds out a large envelope. "He said it was urgent."

Wait, if the unsub went to his house, then this is a lot more dangerous for everyone. He knows where everyone lives and where everyone's families live. This is not good.