someone to love • spencer reid

riding the lightening

we had been driving for sometime now, on our way to death row. i was squished between garcia and reid, my head resting on spencer's arm. i hadn't gotten much sleep the night before, and thankfully he didn't mind.

"sarah jean and jacob dawes butchered, what? twelve girls?" elle asked from the passenger seat.

"thirteen," i corrected, my eyes still closed, "counting the girl that was just found."

"hillary dickson." spencer clarified.

"disappeared fifteen years ago," hotch spoke from the drivers seat,"buried her under sarah's mother's living room."

i scrunched my nose in distaste. that poor mother must have been mortified to know that she was a pawn in their game.

"you think that was the last victim?"

"well, that's what we're here to find out." elle replied.

"there is nothing about the dynamics of sarah jean and jacob's relationship." reid said, flipping through the file, moving my head too much.

"reid, stop moving your arm." i muttered, my eyes opening.

"sorry."

elle chuckled and shook her head, but didn't say anything about us,"the state isn't interested in dynamics or profiles, they just want this case to go away. they were caught, they confessed, they got the death penalty."

garcia sighed, her anxiety radiating off of her and onto me,"you guys do realize that visiting death rows is not part of my job description?"

"garcia, this will be the first serial killer couple ever recorded for vicap." spencer said excitedly.

"they slaughtered girls with blonde hair," garcia looked at him incredulously, grabbing the ends of her hair,"hello?"

i chuckled and sat up, deciding sleep was no longer my main objective,"so? i was ted bundy's type: brown hair, middle part. it happens."

"yeah, but ted bundy wasn't in a serial killing couple." spencer said, still eager to interview these murderers.

i pursed my lips,"well, sarah jean only confessed to killing her two year old son, she didn't say anything about the girls."

"you think she's innocent?" hotch looked at me through the rear view mirror.

i shrugged,"we'll see."

"so you're like, totally calm about going to death row?" garcia put her hand on my arm, still not able to fathom why none of us were freaking out as much as her.

"i watched the green mile, i'll be fine." i answered, causing her and elle to chuckle.

"that was a good movie." hotch commented.

•

i walked with spencer and gideon to see sarah jean, along with the warden.

"we call this 'dead man valley'." the warden said jokingly.

i knit my eyebrows together, a little confused at the insensitivity.

"did she have any contact with jacob?" gideon asked him, brushing past the quip as well.

warden hayes pressed a button, and seconds later the metal doors slid open, and we continued to walk to sarah jean's cell,"well, until today she's declined contact with anyone. For her own safety, we keep her away from the other prisoners. the hate for this woman is as fresh today, as it was fifteen years ago."