FRATERNIZATION | DEREK MORGAN (ON HOLD)

TWO

Theresa curled up on the leather seats of the plane. Her legs were tucked up and her head rested on her knees. She felt exhausted, she hated plane journeys mainly because they always felt so tedious and time consuming.

Reid offered her a smile and waved her over with the file in his hands. They needed to talk about the case before they landed, then they could get the rest that their bodies were craving.

The brunette let go of a small huff before taking a seat beside Reid, she had an over sized jumper that she pulled on so that she could fiddle with the sleeves. It always comforted her when flying.

"His first victim was 26-year-old Melissa Kirsh." Reid read once everyone gathered around him. "Stab wounds, strangulation."

Gideon made his way to stand behind the seat at Theresa was sat on. His hands rested on the back of her chair as they listened to Reid talk. He wanted to show her that she had his support no matter what.

"Wait, wait. Back up. Back up. He stabbed her and then strangled her to finish her off?" Derek questioned curiously, wondering why someone would do something like that.

He had worked on his fair share of strangling cases during his time with the BAU. Although he remembered his first case vividly, he was only 6 months into being a profiler. He still had nightmares about that case.

"Other way around." Gideon cut in before Reid even got a chance to say anything back in response. "Why do you think he started using the belt with the second murder, Tessa?"

Theresa gulped before looking up at everyone. Her eyes flickered around the four men, all waiting patiently for her response.

"Contrary to belief, strangling with your bare hands is not as easy as one would believe. It takes much longer for the victims to die, although our killer probably did try." She concluded, once she had finished speaking she began to flick through the file that Reid had open on the table.

She knew a lot about strangling cases and their victims. She knew how long it took for someone to die by strangling, which was the most affective way and more often than not, she could give an accurate profile about the unsub before she'd really read much into the case.

"So he stabbed her instead." Derek looked down at the girl, who had busied herself by looking at all the photos they had.

The jumper practically drowned her, which he happened to find adorable. It looked old, and a little over worn. It was a navy cable knitted jumper that looked like it was made for someone twice her size. He assumed it was either a relatives or her boyfriends, although he hadn't heard that she had a boyfriend.

"And realized it would be hours cleaning up the blood." Hotch turned to look at the group. He noticed the way that Theresa began to anxiously chew on her bottom lip, something he saw more often than not with the girl.

"Next time, our boy's got a method. The belt." Derek almost chuckled but was able to hold it back.

Reid glanced over to the brunette, trying to assess her thoughts and feelings. She looked closed off, more so than usual. Her body language was tense and she mainly stuck beside Gideon, almost as if he kept her safe.

"He's learning, perfecting his scenario. Becoming a better killer." Gideon looked down at Theresa, he could tell that this would be a hard case for her.

The conversation ended sooner rather than later and they still had a few hours before they got back to Washington. Theresa had made her way back to her original seat and once again curled up into a ball.

Derek looked between the men, wondering why today she was being more closed off than usual. Sure, Theresa was a valuable member of the BAU and an excellent profiler, but she was much quieter and less arrogant than the rest. It made him feel like he needed to protect her more.

"How long until we land, T?" Reid questioned, hoping to make the girl talk more and come out of her shell.

Theresa looked at the watch on her wrist and pursed her lips. She looked between the boys before announcing,

"Just under an hour."

"Thank you." He nodded with a smile, looking towards Hotch, to see if he would bring anything up.

"Wanna play a game of chess, Parker?" Hotch asked curiously, it didn't take a genius to figure out that she wasn't okay.

"No, thank you." She whispered gently.

She closed her eyes and hoped that the boys would just think that she was asleep so that she didn't have to talk. She wasn't in the mood to have a conversation with everyone, she'd much rather stay quiet and keep to herself.

Gideon knew that the girl wasn't asleep but he could also tell that she wanted to be left alone. He watched as Derek stood up and placed a blanket over the brunette, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear so that it was no longer in her eyes.

Derek allowed a warm smile to form on his face, she looked so peaceful. Like nothing in the world could harm her.

"What did you two talk about when you left your office?" Derek questioned curiously, wondering if it was something that Gideon had said that made her become more closed off.

"Nothing that concerns you." Gideon answered swiftly. He was only being blunt and suspicious to protect Theresa. He knew that if things got out, everything would change.