𝓶𝓪𝓻𝓪 𝓳𝓪𝓷𝓮 ➢ 𝓼. 𝓻𝓮𝓲𝓭

𝒻𝑜𝓇𝓉𝓎

"Last night, a family was killed four miles from here," Hotch said as Garcia passed out the tablets. "The parents were killed at the dinner table and their two children were killed upstairs."

"One was an agent?" Morgan asked as he read the file.

Reid's mouth fell open in shock as he read the details, looking up to meet Mara's eyes. "They were sedated with ketamine."

Mara quickly swiped tears from her cheeks, clearing her throat and sitting up straight. "Mallory was a trained agent and couldn't fight him off. She didn't have her gun but she had skin under her fingernails and a gunshot through her shoulder."

"She tried to fight him," Emily said. "We should get the skin tested for DNA."

"Why?" Morgan asked. "We already know who he is."

"Not particularly," Hotch replied. "His signature changed. He shot one of the children."

"She's not a child, she's a grown woman," Mara said. "There are hundreds-thousands of other families that he could have targeted in the city but he chose a federal agent."

"He chose someone close to you." Reid said, looking up at her.

"Wait, you're saying Mara's his target?"

"Maybe not his target but he's targeting people around her."

"Hasn't he ruined my life enough already?" Mara muttered, closing the file.

"Morgan and Reid, you two go to the newest crime scene," Hotch said. "Prentiss and Rossi, go to the local P.D. and gather what information they gathered when Fox was active."

"I'm going with you, Reid." Mara said, standing up.

"Mara, this is going to be diff-"

"I need to see it," she replied. "He's back and something's different. I need to be there."

Hotch nodded and Mara followed Reid and Morgan out to the trucks as they started driving to the new crime scene.

Reid set a hand on her shoulder from the back seat, making her turn around to face him. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied. "I've waited fifteen years to catch this son of a bitch, I'm not giving up now."

When they arrived at Mallory's parents house, she ducked under the yellow tape and moved into the house. In the kitchen, there were five plates at the dinner table when only four people were in the house. Mallory's parents were seated there, their throats slashed and multiple stab wounds covering their bodies.

"How many stab wounds?" Reid asked the officer.

"On the mom, thirty-seven, and on the father, thirteen."

"Overkill on the mother," Mara said. "Opposite of his M.O. years ago. He always went overboard on the father."

Next, they moved upstairs, where Mallory and her little brother laid, blood littering to floor around them. Reid's attention turned to Mara, watching her eyebrows furrow together as she struggled to keep herself together.

"Mallory has a gunshot wound, he couldn't subdue her," Mara said, her voice shaking. "So he shoots her, sedates her, kills her, then moved onto the younger victim."

"He strayed from his M.O. once again," Reid said. "This doesn't seem the same."

"Are you saying this is a copycat?"

"I don't know," he replied. "Something is...different."

"He risked changing his M.O. and risked his own life just by choosing this set of victims," Mara said. "He chose Mallory for a reason."

Once they returned to the office, they ran over some theories but ultimately, they couldn't do anything but plaster his face across every news outlet and wait for another body.

Mara was sitting in the conference room, biting her nails and hoping that it wasn't her.

It wasn't until Hotch decided to send everyone home for the night that Reid became enraged. "We're going home?"

"There's nothing else we can do tonight."

"If we think Mara's the target, why are we going home?" he snapped. "Sending her home alone?"

"If we felt she was unsafe we would put a car outside her house."

"She is!" he retorted, shaking his head and composing himself. "She is unsafe, Hotch. This man targeted the only friend she had o-"

"Hey, I have friends!" Mara protested from her seat at the conference table.

Reid sent her a look and she made herself smaller and sank into her seat. Rossi set a hand on his shoulder and Reid turned around. "She knows how to take care of herself. She needs a friend right now and that's you."

"Hey, uh, guys, I'm right here."

Reid turned her head and sent her another look but this time, she stood up and placed her hands on her hips. "Let this son of a bitch try me and he'll receive my fucking wrath."

Rossi sent a small smile to Reid. "I told you."

"But," Mara said as everyone's attention turned back to her. "You're more than welcome to stay at my place if you fear this much for my safety."

Reid nodded and everyone dispersed, Hotch making a call to keep a patrol car outside her apartment. Reid insisted on driving Mara home, especially since he had to swing by his apartment to grab some clothes.

When they finally reached Mara's apartment, Mara grabbed her mail while Reid occupied himself by making a pot of coffee. Once Mara returned to her apartment, Reid noticed her uneasy behavior. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah." Mara nodded, shoving her mail in a drawer before walking over and embracing Reid. 

Reid only smiled softly and hugged her back, resting his head on top of hers.