heart like yours (jennifer jareau)

2. twenty five

AN: have another one✨ why not? treat yourself🫶

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"there's nothing more intimate in life than simply being understood." - brad meltzer

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Delilah, Hotch, Derek and Emily gathered outside of the house shortly after checking out the crime scene, moving to form a small huddle to shield the other detectives on scene from hearing them talk.

Delilah was barely listening, her thoughts jumping quickly from idea to idea as she tried to figure out why she had this weird feeling and what exactly she was missing here.

"So, let's work this out. What does the new behavior tell us?" Hotch said quietly.

"That there was only one unsub this time?" Emily said. "Uh, Raphael? Alone?"

"Not if he's the psychotic. He wouldn't be capable of operating this efficiently. Someone was here who could control himself, make sure no evidence was left behind," Hotch said.

"At the first crime, unsub one called the police, right? This time it was Raphael. Why? It's like the phone call is necessary. It's part of the signature," Derek said.

Delilah shook her head.

"This doesn't make sense. They wouldn't switch roles the way the caller and Raphael seem to be. It's wrong," Delilah said.

"Have we ever seen this in case history?" Hotch asked.

"A mixture of extreme psychosis in a controlled individual? No. One of the most common indicators of extreme psychosis is solitude," Derek said.

"They don't exactly play well with others," Emily said.

Delilah's face dropped slightly, starting to pace up and down as she twisted her rings around her fingers.

They don't play well with others. The role reversal was practically unheard of. Extreme psychosis was indicated by solitude, so, typically, nobody else would be involved with the murders except one unsub, presumably Raphael, but Raphael wasn't controlled enough to do this.

But there couldn't be two.

"Was Garcia able to find anything on a Raphael in the records?" Gideon walked over to them.

"Not yet," Derek said.

"So, why is he naming himself? Twice? Certainly not worried about us getting that name. In fact, he wants us to know it," Gideon said.

"An alias?" Emily said.

"Or Raphael doesn't actually exist," Gideon said.

"So, we're not looking for a team?" Emily asked.

"Raphael's the name of one of the archangels," Gideon said.

"Meaning?" Emily asked.

"Meaning," Delilah said, turning to look at them. "There's only one unsub," she said.

"But there were two voices," Emily said.

"I think he's suffering from a delusion that he's actually an archangel. The behaviours don't fit their personalities, so, there can't be two. There's only one. Psychosis can manifest in so many different ways, like delusions and hallucinations. There's one unsub," Delilah said.

"What about the third voice?" Emily asked.

Delilah shrugged.

"Not sure," Delilah said.