𝓶𝓪𝓻𝓪 𝓳𝓪𝓷𝓮 ➢ 𝓼. 𝓻𝓮𝓲𝓭

𝒻𝒾𝒻𝓉𝑒𝑒𝓃

The team arrived at the new crime scene, Mara fully focused on this case and nothing but.

"The guy was torn up pretty bad," the lead detective said. "We thought we'd find his arms, but we never did. We found him right over there."

"Well," Emily said, following the detective. "The UnSub definitely has his own mode of transportation. This is way off the beaten path."

"The first victim, Jason Meredith, was found over thirty miles away." Reid said, examining the body.

"You say you were able to clear this place before the storm hit?" Hotch asked, gesturing to the huge trailer park. "I didn't know you could do that for tornadoes."

"When we get enough lead time, we try to clear all the mobile home parks," he replied. "Last place you want to be in a twister is in a trailer. We close off the main roads, too."

"So, the UnSub either found a way in or he already lives here," Mara said. "He could have hid during the evacuation but he came in close contact with this storm. Maybe even close enough to put himself in danger."

"Or he waited somewhere safe for it to pass and came back and dumped the body." The detective said.

"No, I think the storm itself actually means something to this guy." Reid rebutted.

Once they were back at the station, Emily and Hotch went and talked to the victims mothers while Reid and Mara worked on the profile, Morgan and Rossi running with the storm chases theory.

Mara's phone rang and Garcia's name popped up on her screen. "Yeah, Garcia?"

"Hi, dollface," she said, making Mara laugh. "The M.E. is ready for you."

"Alright, thank you," Mara said and hung up, turning her attention to Reid. "Wanna take a trip to the medical examiner?"

Reid looked around the station for someone else to go with her but ultimately nodded. "Sure, but I'm driving."

"Not a chance, boy genius."

In the car, silence ate away at the two until Mara clicked on the radio. One of the Fray's songs was playing through the radio and Mara instantly noticed Reid tapping his finger against his knee. He knew the song and he loved that song.

Mara left it there and continued to the M.E., listening to Reid hum along to the song. The environment between them went from hostile to comfortable.

"They had alcohol and Dextromethorphan in their systems?" Reid asked, looking at the report the M.E. gave them.

"Cough medicine." Mara said, looking at the victims on the tables, or what was left of their victims.

"Yeah," the M.E. answered. "See it with a lot of kids. It's a cheap high. Free if you can steal it."

"What were you able to determine from all the damage to the bodies?" Mara asked, peaking over Reid's shoulder and reading the file.

"Well, it's mostly consistent with tornado casualties I've seen before," the M.E. answered. "You know, lacerations, abrasions, massive internal trauma."

"Mostly?" Mara asked, her hand pressing against Reid's back to steady herself while she read the folder.

Reid tensed up at the touch of another but knowing it was Mara, he relaxed and even leaned into her touch.

"Well, their limbs- those were chopped off. I'm guessing with an axe or a cleaver. A dull one, however, by the looks of the tissue damage."

"Cut off postmortem." Reid said, looking closely at the body.

"Only minutes after they were killed."

When they returned to the station, they told the team what they learned. They'd been held before they were killed, they were dead before their limbs were cut off, there was no sexual assault. He got them drunk and high before killing them.

After the night was over and everyone returned to the station in the morning, another victim. Morgan and Reid went to the crime scene while Mara and the rest of the team worked on the profile.

Reid and Morgan got back, thinking he was putting together a body instead of just taking one apart. The team gathered in the lobby of the police station and gave the profile.

"We're looking for a while male in his mid-to-late 20's," Hotch said. "He's mobile, and he travels great distances to follow storms. He's probably in a truck or a van."

"We believe he may live in that vehicle, it's probably beat up and maybe rusted from the elements." Rossi continued.

"Jeffery Dahmer was under the delusion that he could create young male sex zombies that wouldn't resist his advances." Reid stated.

"And when Dahmer's test subject died, he kept their body parts as souvenirs," Mara continued Reid's sentence. "Skulls, hearts, even genitalia."

"But storing body parts is no small task," Emily said. "They're going to get ripe fast. He needs lots of ice, salt maybe. Something to preserve them."

"And he's paying for this stuff somehow," Mara said. "Gas, too."

"He doesn't have the social skills to hold a job for long so he's most likely a day laborer, handyman, anything transitory." Hotch explained.

"We think he's using the weather as a forensic countermeasure to destroy evidence, but we also think he might be some sort of symphoraphiliac.

"Symophoraphiliacs," Reid continued. "They're sexually aroused by disaster. Usually fires or traffic accidents."

"In this case," Emily said. "The weather must enhance his excitement."

Hotch brought in a family who's son had been kidnapped right in front of his little brother. "He's changing his victim selection criterion."

Mara stepped forward, her arm brushing with Reid's. "The boy he grabbed gets straight A's, plays football, even volunteers at his church."

"So," Emily said, standing between the two. "He wanted the kid to badly, he was willing to leave a witness? Which suggests his delusions are starting to take over."

"What's driving this guy?" Morgan asked.

Mara watched the little brother freeze at the absence of his older brother. "Maybe it's love."

Everyone's eyebrows furrowed at her comment but Mara turned around, eyes meeting Reid's. "What if he's trying to recreate someone he loves?"

"It is an emotion that drives to extremes." Morgan answered.

"If he's trying to recreate someone, then it's probably someone he loved and lost." Reid said.

Morgan and Hotch talked to Garcia while Mara connected some dots on the crime scene photos. Once she figured out this had to be their guy, she entered the ongoing conversation.

"Oh my god, this poor kid," Garcia said. "In 2001, Travis James lost his big brother, Tucker, and his mom, Jan, when a tornado hit the McCleary Trailer Park in Enid, Oklahoma."

"That's just south of here." Reid said.

"So our guy's local." Morgan said just as lightening struck and the power went out.

Mara jumped and reached out for the nearest person, which happened to be Reid. Reid's hand found hers and Mara instantly pulled back, completely aware of his phobia of germs.

"Forget it," he mumbled, intertwining his fingers with hers, his side pressing against hers. "I've got you."