A Delicate Light

Part 4

4x09 - "52 Pickup"
November 26, 2008
"Has anyone seen Hotch?" Agent Todd asks as she rushes into the bullpen. Emily looks up from her phone where she was texting Hotch and tries to hide her blush as if she was caught. "Uh, I think he's in his office." Prentiss says. "I'm here." Hotch says as he approaches the team from behind. "You have a case?" He asks her and she nods. "Atlanta." Todd says before handing him the file. Hotch glances over the photos and details, "Let's gather." He says. They all make their way to the round table room.
Hotch knocks on Rossi's door so he'll join them. "Vanessa Holden, age 25. Last Friday night, she was clubbing with her sister. A stranger, white male, roughly her age picked her up. They left the club at 1:00 a.m. and went back to her place. He forced her on her hands and knees, and then he cut her open just below the stomach." Jordan introduces the case. "Woah." Derek remarks. "Yeah. Pretty rough." Rossi agrees. "The gutting causes the intestines to spill out. You can survive for a few hours, actually even days." Reid adds in the fact of human anatomy.
"Postmortem indicates that he slit her throat at 5:00 a.m.." Agent Todd continues. "So he disemboweled her, but didn't kill her for four hours." Rossi concludes, "Could be a sexual sadist." Prentiss theorizes. "Yeah, I thought so too, but I found two prior from a year ago: prostitutes, actually, in motel rooms." Jordan explains as she passes the files on those cases to the group. "Ok, so keep running with it. Why do you think this is the same unsub?" Morgan asks. Agent Todd turns back to the screen to answer Derek's question of her judgement.
"In Vanessa Holden's apartment, the following were discovered: bleach, ammonia, trash bags. All in a triangular pattern. One year ago, motel rooms: bleach, ammonia, trash bags. Also in a triangular pattern." "He's cleaning up." Emily states. "Might be trying to hide his tracks." Derek says, "Could be a sign of remorse." Reid adds. "Apologizing for the murder by minimizing the mess." Rossi deduces. "But there's one other commonality between both sets of murders: bleach and ammonia were found under the victim's fingernails." "He's making them clean up their own murder." Morgan says. "It's the same unsub." Hotch concludes. "Wheels up in 30."

Author Harlan Ellison wrote, "The minute people fall in love, they become liars."

"So, if the unsub changed victimology, does that make him organized or disorganized?" Prentiss asks after they've all settled on the jet and are in the air on their way to Georgia. "Well, the prostitutes point one way, the club goes another." Morgan answers. "The triangular arrangement of the cleaning supplies is interesting." Reid notes from his place next to Prentiss. "Obsessive-compulsive?" Hotch asks the young doctor. "Might have been institutionalized." Emily adds. "We're missing the forest for the trees here." Rossi says nonchalantly.
"This guy started with prostitutes, a high risk victimology, took a year off, came back, killed a socialite." The elder Italian continues. "No forced entry, no coercion of any kind." Morgan states. "Exactly. So, how does our unsub go from loser of the year to Don Juan?" "Actually, as Byron interpreted him, Don Juan was an ironic reversal of sex roles." Reid starts on one of his tangents before he looks around and notices his colleagues' lack of interest, "And when — th-that's about it." He cuts off. "Something must have happened between the last prostitute and Vanessa Holden to make him change his victimology." Hotch brings the focus back.
"Could the unsub have known Vanessa?" Jordan asks. "It's unlikely. Sexual sadists attack anonymously." Derek answers before Reid picks it up, "They have to sever a personal connection and see their victims as objects to perpetrate this level of torture." "We have to build two profiles then." Prentiss reasons, "One for the unsub who killed prostitutes, one for the unsub who goes to clubs." "We've never done that before." Rossi states. "Prentiss is right." Hotch says and it makes her heart skip a beat. She's perfectly capable of justifying her own suggestions, but when he does it she loves it even more.
"The victimology is so different, we'll treat them as separate unsubs and see what overlaps. Reid, work up a geographic profile, focus on location of the murders. Prentiss and Rossi, concentrate on the prostitutes. Jordan, Morgan, and I will go deal with Vanessa Holden." Hotch advises. He wishes he could put Emily in his group, but he's paired them together a lot recently and neither one of them wanted the team to get suspicious of their relationship change just yet, still keen to keep it their little secret.
After Hotch told them to look for pickup artists after their initial investigation, she was able to find one sleezeball who seemed to fit what they were looking for. "Hotch." She says as she approaches him, "What did you find out?" He asks. "Of the 20 self-described pickup artist classes in the area, there's only one guy who encourages his students to dress like, uh, space cowboys." She jokes before showing him the ad, "Are you ready to meet Viper?" He gives her a quizzical look but she nods telling him she's done enough research to know this is who they're looking for.
Prentiss, Hotch, and Morgan make their way to the address listed on Viper's class after discovering he was in the middle of a "lesson". They walk in just as he's giving a monologue about how men were made to hunt women and how women were subservient to the opposite sex. It made her skin crawl. "Will you listen to that language?" Morgan asks, "He's training serial killers." He says. One thing she loved about Derek Morgan: he respected women. "Great. We're dealing with a rampant narcissist and misogynist whose turned himself into a snake oil salesman." She groans.
"That's one more thing he has in common with our unsub." Hotch states. Once Viper is done talking to the men, the three agents approach him. "Mr. Viper, I'm SSA Aaron Hotchner with the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit. These are agents Prentiss and Morgan." Hotch introduces them and doesn't miss how the pickup artist's eyes scan over his girlfriend's body. It makes his jaw clench. Morgan takes over explaining their case and exactly what they need from him. "So you think this, what did you call him, unsub took my class?" Viper asks them. "He copied your 'the camera adds ten pounds' routine verbatim." Hotch says.
"Yeah, that's a good gag." Viper says with a laugh. It makes her want to punch him. "If you could just give us your attendance lists, it might help us find him." Prentiss says. Viper gives her a smile that makes her want to take a hand sanitizer shower. "No." He says. She scoffs, "No?" "My clients expect a certain amount of confidentiality. I won't compromise that." He argues, "We can come back with a warrant." Aaron says defensively as Viper crowds in on Emily's space. "Be my guest." He says sarcastically.
"But keep in mind, the money I make doesn't just pay for my fabulous lifestyle, it also keeps some very expensive lawyers on retainer." Viper argues. "What club did you go to last night?" Prentiss asks, excited to get away from this creep as quickly as possible. They watch as his eyes look Emily up and down, no doubt imagining her naked. It makes Hotch want to put Viper out on his ass. She's not property. He thinks. "It's a legitimate question. You seem to know a lot about our investigation." Morgan intervenes. "Two things to learn about me:" Viper begins.
"First, I outwit alpha males like you for fun and sometimes profit. How often do you have to rely on your badge to score, baldy? Second, last night I was at Club Aqua. And, I have a stack of tax-deductible drink receipts to back up my story. Now, you might not want to believe that my style works, and here, in this harsh light, you might have the advantage. But, meet me on my turf," He leans in towards Prentiss and she can feel Hotch tense besides her ready to pounce this ass-hat to the ground. Viper grins.
"Oh, the things I could make you do." He chuckles. She scoffs and rolls her eyes. "If you, um, have any questions, give us a call." Hotch says as he hands the man his card. He and Prentiss turn to leave while Morgan trails behind to warn Viper about backing off of Emily. "Please tell me we are not giving up on that guy." Emily says to her boyfriend. She now wants to just drown in hand sanitizer. "We're just getting started." Hotch assures her. If it were up to him, Viper would be arrested for harassing a federal agent.
After delivering the profile, Reid approaches the team, "I think I might just stay home and man the tip line tonight. Clubs aren't really my thing." Reid says. "Not a chance, Kid. I need a wingman, come on now." Morgan argues. "Actually, there is another angle we need to pursue." Rossi says. Hotch's stomach turns at what his coworker is implying. Use Prentiss as bait. "We still don't know what made the unsub change his victimology. What made him stop killing prostitutes and move into the clubs." Hotch says, hoping he's wrong about Dave's intention for bringing this "angle" up.
"The answer might be something in Viper's class, but to figure that out we need to profile the teacher." Rossi says. Nope, he's going to suggest it. Hotch states. He prepares himself to not show disapproval at putting his girlfriend out as a target for Viper to hit on. "You need to bait him then, with someone he sees as a challenge." Morgan says as Prentiss nods along. She has no idea what we're suggesting. Hotch says as he keeps an eye on Emily. "You need to study his style up close and personal. It's going to take someone he's already attracted to." Reid says with a smirk.
The boy genius' grin is what tips her off. She looks between the men of the group only to realize they all mean the same thing. Even Aaron. "Oh." She sighs. "Oh, this is really gonna suck." She complains before glaring at all of them. "You don't have to do it if you don't want to." Hotch assures her, "Yeah, it'll just put the entire case in jeopardy." Reid nods. She knows he's joking but she could really smack him for it. "It's fine, I'll do it. But you all owe me."
She disappears into the locker room to get ready. She does her hair and adds some color to her eyes and lips to make her appearance more bold. She's taking out a dress she always packs for undercover when she feels his presence. "Prentiss?" He asks. "Yeah, come on in." She answers. He appears and she smiles, "Hey, I'm ten minutes away." She tells him. He nods. She knows that's why he didn't come in here. "You're ok with this right?" "Yeah. I'll be fine. Sadly, I've actually dated people worse than Viper." She admits. "Wow." He says. She laughs and rolls her eyes.
"Not you." She assures him. He smiles, "If he touches you -," Hotch begins but she cuts him off. "I've handled myself just fine for 38 years, Aaron. Trust me, this one sexist prick isn't going to break me." She argues. "Sorry." He says as he tries to give her space. She moves forward and grabs his arm, "It's okay. I like you being protective. It's kind of sexy." She teases. She watches the red hue of embarrassment lick up his neck to his cheeks. She leans in and plants a kiss to his neck, just below his collar.
They still haven't crossed that line yet, although there have been many attempts. Cases or calls from Garcia for a girls night or Haley asking him to pick up Jack early always got in the way. "Not fair to tease when you're about to go flirt with another man." He jokes with her, "I think it's plenty fair seeing as how you put me in this position." She whispers in his ear. He pulls back and frowns at her, "You don't have to do it. We can send one of the local detectives." He offers.
She shakes her head, "Reid was right. Viper is attracted to me and I'll be able to throw him off his game. But don't worry, I'll be thinking of you the entire time." She says as she pulls him in for a kiss. She goes back to the locker and that's when she asks him about the situation with Jordan. He explains it to her when she offers to bring the temporary liaison to the club with her, "Maybe Viper will project his attraction elsewhere so you won't have to rip his head off." She jokes. "I wanted to do that the minute he eye-sexed you." He says.
She rolls her eyes, "I'll send Jordan with you, but report back to me how she does." He requests. "Yes, sir." She winks at him and he shakes his head. Damn tease. He huffs before leaving the locker room to go get Agent Todd and update her on her new assignment. In the club, Viper still seems to be highly attracted to Prentiss. "Ok, fifteen seconds." Prentiss says after timing Jordan and Viper staring into each other's eyes. "What do you see?" Jordan asks, "Nope. No change. No dilation." Prentiss tells her.
Agent Todd turns back to Viper, "I guess chemically we're not a match." She says, no sound of dismay anywhere in her voice. "Only because you have someone else on the mind. Once that happens, the attraction center in the brain shuts down. Your turn." He turns to Prentiss. She smiles and looks down, "No." "Are you scared I might be right? Yeah?" He laughs and she begins to laugh before she shuts him down, "No, Paul, I'm baffled. I cannot figure out what the unsub could have learned from you." She pushes him until he looks away and sips his drink.
"It's not worth it anyway." He says. "Excuse me?" Prentiss asks. She doesn't know why she takes offense to it. "Oh, not you, you're worth it. But getting in a fight with your boyfriend isn't." Viper says. "Boyfriend?" Jordan asks. "Yeah, what was that agent's name, Hotchner?" Viper asks. He can see Prentiss growing uncomfortable and he feeds off of it, "Oh, I'm guessing your friend here didn't know." He says as he leans in closer, "You see, us men have a radar too. We can tell when a woman belongs to someone else. We see them, acknowledge them, but never pursue them." He says.
Prentiss grows more agitated. I don't belong to anyone. She thinks. Jordan takes the lead and is able to pull something out of Viper about a "queen bee" when she and Emily leave Viper standing there. They call Hotch to fill him in on what they learned. Once they hang up, Emily turns to Todd, "Jordan -," "Don't worry, Emily, my lips are sealed. Trust me, I don't want to get anymore on Hotch's bad side than I already am." Jordan promises her. Emily looks at her and nods, "Thank you." She says. They begin walking back to the car, "So, shacking up with the boss." Jordan teases. Emily nudges her and laughs, "Shut up. At least he's not a Viper."
In the end, they catch their unsub and make their way home which makes Emily happy because it means she'll never have to be around, talk to, or look at Viper ever again. On the plane ride back, the others sleep and Jordan can't help but watch Hotch and Prentiss as they sit beside each other. She can see how the other profilers haven't caught on. They aren't touching at all, but at the same time she can tell there's something going on between them.
She notices it when Hotch's index finger periodically moves up and down on the file as he reads it. Emily, whose also reading a file, will peel her eyes from the page and look at his finger before slowly and nonchalantly roam over the rest of his body. A small smile gracing her lips when her eyes reach his face. She then goes back to reading her file and runs her finger up and down the back of it like Hotch did a few seconds prior. This pulls a smile out of the man who so often has a stone face.

P.J. O'Rourke says, "Cleanliness becomes more important when godliness is unlikely."

He knocks on her door and she opens it without even checking her peephole, knowing it's him. He rushes in and presses his mouth to hers. When they landed in DC, she went home to shower every inch of the case off of her, including Viper. Especially Viper. Meanwhile, he went back to the office to finish some paperwork and talk to Jordan, let her know she was out of the doghouse. Emily smiles into the kiss.
Once they break apart for air, he rests his forehead to hers. "How did things go with Jordan?" She asks. "I decided I shouldn't scrutinize her too much." He says. "Good. She knows about us, by the way." She tells him. He pulls back and looks at her questioningly, "Apparently Viper was able to tell that we were together and outed us. She promised to keep it a secret, said she didn't want to get anymore on your bad side." She tells him. He chuckles and kisses her forehead, "Do you want to tell the rest of the team?" He asks.
She shakes her head, "Not yet. I like having a secret." She says as she reaches around to cup his backside. He chuckles and kisses her again, "I know, but don't you feel a little guilty?" He asks. She shakes her head, "We spend all day everyday with them. Hell, our dates are practically at the BAU. They'll be fine. Now, stop talking." She shushes him by capturing his mouth again. He chuckles against her lips as his hands take purchase on her waist, "Come on, let's go to bed." He insists and guides her to her bedroom where they do nothing but cuddle in each other's arms.
Part 4! What do we think so far? Do we love it? Do we hate it? Do we have any suggestions? Let me know!