Teenage Dream

Back to the Start

This AU is set in the middle of season five
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This case was one of the strangest the BAU had ever dealt with. Twelve adult kidnappings in Maine, no bodies had been found. The raid was completed and the UnSub was captured. At the time the team only knew him by his street name, Snare. He was known for his "rare remedies and cures". The man had said nothing since being taken into custody, he only giggled whenever he was asked a question.

"Hotch should we do this separately or together?" Rossi already knew the answer to the question, but he had to double check with his boss. "Together Dave. Good cop bad cop." "You got it." They walked into the interrogation room, Hotch sitting while Rossi stood behind him. The man handcuffed to the table in front of them was bizarre. His clothes were dirty and ragged, yet at the same time his skin was so clean it almost shone.

"Sir were you informed of your rights?" Hotch asked the question without any menace, different from how he normally would talk to a suspect. Rossi slammed his hand down on the table, causing several loose papers to flutter in the sudden downdraft. "Damn it Hotch it doesn't matter if he knows his rights or not. We have a dozen missing people, some or all of them may be dead. We're not going to waste our time by being nice to this scumbag!"

As the men began to mock fight, Snare looked up with a glint in his eye. He began to mumble, first it was almost silent and incoherent, but within seconds it escalated into yelling. Reid, who was watching from the other side of the glass, couldn't place the language that was being used. Hotch and Rossi froze, standing up straight as they felt a cold wind blow down their spines. Suddenly a strange feeling came over the duo, like a second skin had been plastered over them. After that they hurriedly left the room, not planning to return.

Hoping to throw the man off his game, the group sent in the two girls, JJ and Prentiss. Trying a gentler approach, they told the shaman that all they wanted to do was help him, give him the benefit of the doubt. He laughed like a hyena, spouting out the same gibberish he said to Hotch and Rossi. He smiled devilishly at seeing their stunned reactions, and Hotch immediately ordered the women out of there.

***

"I don't know what we can do to make him talk. He is a psychopath in the middle of a psychotic break, nothing he says has any logic to it." Rossi was the first to point out the predicament. "He's right. All we have to hold him to is a profile. We can keep the suspect in custody for 72 hours without charging him, but we already know this is our guy." Hotch backed up Rossi. The team was sitting in a conference room, discussing their options.

Reid walked up to the board, tilting his head slightly when he looked at the pictures of the victims. Turning around, he excitedly said, "Snare is wearing a purple dress shirt that is several sizes too big for him, correct?" When the others nodded in agreement he pointed to one of the pictures on the board. "This is the last known picture of the twelfth victim, Cassidy Bell. It was taken from a parking lot camera that belongs to a supermarket. The shirt is the same one the suspect is wearing."

Hotch looked at both pictures and confirmed Spencer's theory. "Garcia, Reid, go and see if the shirt has a label on it. If so, you may just have found our evidence. Good work Reid." Garcia stood up, happy to be of help even after the technological part of the job was done. She grabbed Reid's arm and pulled him out of the room while the young man shot a panicked look at his friends.

Twenty minutes later Garcia and Reid returned, both pale and shaking as they sat down. "The shirt matched Cassidy's. It's being processed right now." Reid said in a wavering voice. Penelope didn't say anything, just stared forward with a blank look. "Seriously, am I the only one here that didn't get the flu from this guy?" Morgan said with a chuckle, but the rest of the team wasn't so fortunate. It was true, they all were pale and sweaty, and their legs shook when they were standing for too long. It was one of the reasons the BAU had retreated into the conference room.

"It's late, we should go back to the hotel. Gather your things and get into the SUV's. Tomorrow we will come back to the station to get everything before the jet leaves. Okay?" Everyone nodded their agreement, it was late and they were all in need of a good night's rest. "We only have three rooms, so the arrangements might be tight. Sorry, Garcia, but we didn't know you were coming until the last minute." JJ said "Oh it's no problem, I'll sleep wherever there's extra room. I'm just happy I could tag along!" Garcia proclaimed. "So us three girls will take a room, Hotch and Rossi can share, and that leaves the last room for Reid and Morgan. Sound good?" Asked the communications liaison. Various mumblings of 'yes' and 'okay' could be heard around the table. Everyone grabbed their bags and headed towards the station doors.

***

*Morgan's room*

"Hey kid, you okay in there?" Reid had been in the bathroom for ten minutes now, throwing up whatever food was in his stomach. "Yah I'm fine," said the younger agent. "Just go sit in bed, I'll be out in a minute." Morgan sighed, he knew Spencer was lying through his teeth, but he ignored it and let the young genius think that he won.

*Girl's room*

On one bed, JJ and Garcia were curled up, each was nursing a fever. Their body temperatures were helping to keep the others' stable. Emily sat on the other bed holding an ice pack to her temple. Her head was throbbing like crazy and she could barely think. She kept an eye on her friends as they thrashed from nightmares, but before long she too sank into an uneasy sleep.

*Hotch's room*

Rossi sat in the bathroom, his stomach rebelling almost as badly as Reid's had been. Hotch sat on the bed, unwilling to admit that every time he stood up he felt like he was about to faint. He was the leader, he needed to put up a strong front while his team was so unsteady.

Each member of the BAU fell asleep miserable that night. Unfortunately for them, the next morning would be even worse.