Criminal Minds Series Rewrite: Season Five

Our Darkest Hour: Part One

"And out of darkness came the hands that reach through nature, molding men." - Alfred Lord Tennyson

You sit at your desk looking at your phone with thought. The text from your dad was sent ten minutes ago but you're not sure why he's so pissed. All you did was ask him if he could come down to visit you this weekend. Ever since you've gotten out of prison, he's been pissed about anything and everything. You're not sure why. Is it the kids he's fostering? Are they not doing their chores? Is it his construction company? Is he not getting enough money from it? You tap the corner of the phone on your bottom lip in thought.

"Are you okay?" Spencer asks,

"Yeah. My dad is just having one of his bad days, I guess. He's pissed about something and it looks like he's taking it out on me. All I did was ask if he wanted to come down this weekend to visit."

"Does he normally get like this?"

"Sometimes. Usually, I ignore him until he calms down. He'd buy me dinner and we'd talk it out or he'd get me a gift and he'd be fine the next day."

"I'm sure it's nothing."

"Yeah, maybe."

Strauss comes out of Hotch's office, signaling to you that he's free for the briefing. You pass her by on the way to the briefing room.

"What did Strauss want?"

"She needs us in Los Angeles. There was a home invasion homicide last night. Officers found Gregory Everson, fifty-six, beaten, with a GSW to the head. His wife, Colleen, was equally beaten and raped repeatedly."

"She survived this?" you gasp.

That makes your heart heavy. You know for a fact that this woman doesn't want to be alive anymore. You didn't for a long time.

"He chose to keep her alive like an intentional witness. Everything but that points to an organized offender, an experienced one."

"Was she able to identify him?" Spencer asks.

"She said he was white with mean eyes and repulsive breath."

"Rotten inside and out. Did he rape her in front of the husband?"

"Yeah," JJ whispers.

"Oh, no," you sigh sadly. "Poor Colleen."

"I'm touched but one home invasion rarely warrants Strauss personally sending us out," Derek says.

"No, there's more. Ballistics match a double homicide in Downtown LA forty-eight miles away. Three days ago, two women were raped and killed there. Last night was in the suburbs. LAPD's afraid of another Night Stalker."

You don't waste any time getting to the plane. You need to be in LA before this guy strikes again.

"This guy's way too good at this to have just started. He pulled off hours of torture and a homicide without disturbing the neighbors. Not to mention, he robbed the house."

"That could be a habit."

"Do you think he started as a burglar?" JJ asks Hotch.

"If it was just about the killing, he wouldn't bother robbing them."

"How did he get in?"

"Mrs. Everson said there was a noise outside their door. They were outside of their room for a few minutes. When they came back, he was there. He distracted them so he could climb in through their bedroom window."

"I'll have Garcia, see if that MO was used in any other home invasions," Spencer says.

"Victimology is all over the map. He committed three murders and they were both men and women, old, young, black, white, and Hispanic. That's about as random as it gets."