the great war, spencer reid [ 2 ]

026. tribute

Bedelia and Spencer are sitting in the chairs with Rossi across from Spencer and JJ is on the couch. Spencer has a book in his lap but is just staring at the empty seat across from his wife.

"Are you ever going to turn that page?" JJ asks.

"I haven't finished it yet." Spencer says.

"You miss him, huh?" JJ asks. Spencer nods. "Yeah, me too."

Bedelia lets out a quiet sigh, her chest aching at Derek's absence. She leans over, resting her head on Spencer's shoulder, hugging his arm. Spencer's head falls on top of hers.

"Me three." The woman quietly says.

"Me four." Rossi says.

~ ~ ~

"Well, Emily believes it's how precisely he's mimicking each crime." Hotch says. The computer beeps. "Go ahead, Garcia."

"Okay. This is all streaming to your tablets. Feel free to follow along." Penelope says. "I give you Andrei Chikatilo. His first victim was in 1978. It was a 9 year old girl whose body was discovered in the Russian city of Rostov. She was sexually assaulted, strangled, and mutilated."

"He also took eyeballs as trophies and ate some of his victims' organs." Spencer informs.

"Ugh." Penelope grimaces. "I now give you 10 year old, Natasha Dudechenko. Her body was discovered two years ago, also in Rostov, roughly a mile away from where the original body was found, and tragically in much the same condition."

"The Russian police apparently spotted a suspect near the crime scene, but he eluded capture in the crowded train station." Hotch says.

"Chikatilo actually confessed to 56 murders committed between 1978 and 1990." Spencer says.

"Well, the timeline and the body count probably don't matter as much as geography and the copying of the M.O. It was the same last year in London." Hotch says.

"It was, indeed. 3 women were discovered in Whitechapel. Which is a district in east London, all within a month, and all eviscerated a la Mr. Ripper." Penelope says.

"The third victim was Scotland Yard." JJ says. "And that's when Emily almost got him in that undercover operation."

"If this is the same unsub, he would be incredibly rare. He's both criminally and forensically sophisticated, and the fact that he's been able to function and evade caption in 3 countries means that he's highly intelligent and almost certainly multilingual." Spencer says.

"And he's got some money in his pocket, too. Travel takes financing." Rossi says.

"Lewis is flying in from an assignment in Atlanta. And we'll all connect with Emily in New York." Hotch says.

"Well, it'll be good to see her again. Too bad it's gotta be like this." JJ says.

+++

"There she is." Rossi says when they walk up to where Emily and Tara are. Rossi grabs Emily's head, kissing both of her cheeks as she lets a small laugh out.

"Hi." JJ greets.

"Hi." Spencer smiles.

"We missed you. How are you?" JJ asks, hugging Emily

"Good, good. It's so great to see you guys." Emily says, hugging Spencer. "Oh, Brainiac, I love the do." Spencer messes with his hair a little. "Hi, B." She hugs the woman.

"Hi." Hotch hugs Emily.

"Thank you for coming." She tells him.

"Of course." He says. "Rossi and JJ are headed to the crime scene. I'm assuming you want to join?"