2 | Unforgettable Chemistry [S. Reid]

v. palladium

"AGAIN HE'S DISPOSING IN AN area frequented by homeless people. It's equidistant to the last two dump sites." Rossi says as he, Willow, Spencer and the lead detective walk into the new crime scene. Willow crouches down next to the victim, as she puts on her gloves, before opening up the victims' mouth.

"He burned her tongue with the chemical this time." Willow points out, as she stands up again.

"So he removed her ability to taste." Rossi muses.

"Why would he do that?" The lead detective asks, slightly disgusted by it.

"Historically this kind of torture was used to prevent someone from revealing a secret." Spencer explains, making the lead detective frown.

"Maybe she offended him." She points out, making Spencer hum.

"I wonder what that's like." He says, making Willow look at him, slightly annoyed at the fact that he was still pointing out his anger at her, but wouldn't even talk to her about it.

"Her lips are extremely chapped." Rossi says, ignoring the tension between the two.

"She was probably forced to repeatedly participate in some sort of kissing fantasy." Spencer says, making Willow cross her arms over her chest.

"And when things go awry, he takes the offending sense away." She says, as she looks at the body, before back up at the three.

"He tortured her in these clothes, which means the eighties are essential to his delusion." Spencer muses, as he squints his eyes to try and avoid the sun.

"Maybe that's when this rejection occurred and he held on to the clothes all these years." Rossi suggest.

"And now he's attacking girls who remind him of women from that time." Willow adds on to his theory.

"He's fixated on her type and remakes them fit his fantasy." Spencer says.

"But why start now?" The lead detective asks.

"Something probably triggered it, and instead of dealing with it, he's acting out." Willow says, looking at Spencer when saying the last part, making him glare at her, before walking away. The lead detective also leaves, leaving Willow and Rossi behind.

"You two indirectly attacking each other, will not help." Rossi says, as the two start walking away, making Willow sigh.

"I know, but he won't talk to me. So this might be the only way." Willow says, before they join back with Spencer and go back to the station. There the team gathers everyone together to give the profile to the officers.

"We believe the unsub or unknown subject that we're looking for is a white male in his 40s. This is someone who's reacting to rejection by a woman when he was teenager in the 1980s. He's punishing his victims for their reactions to him by taking away their senses with sulfuric acid." Hotch explains to them.

"We believe our unsub could possibly work part-time as a janitor or a mechanic, which would give him access to this chemical." Rossi continues, as he looks over all the gathered officers.

"And after studying the disposal sites, we think it's likely that he is homeless. Now, how do we typically react toward the homeless? We judge them by their looks and smells. It's that same negative reaction we believe that a woman had toward the unsub at some point in the eighties." Derek points out to them.

"The unsub's fixation on this woman is now all-consuming. It's caused him to develop obsessive love disorder. He most likely has tunnel vision and believes that she holds the key to his happiness. He will stalk her in an attempt to win her back." Emily adds on.

"He will do whatever it takes to be near his love interest. But her rejection will spiral him into a depression." JJ hums, making Spencer nod.

"Which would lead to rape and murder of the surrogates who represent her. And it's only a matter of time before this rage and anger causes the unsub to go after her directly." Spencer finalises, before Hotch dismisses everyone. Spencer is quick to walk away, but Willow follows him.

"Spence. Look, we gotta talk about this." Willow says, as they walk into a meeting room.

"I don't want to talk about it." Spencer says as he picks up papers from the table.

"I get it, ok? You're disappointed with the way we handled Emily." Willow sighs, as she smiles weakly at him.

"Listen, I have a lot going on, all right?" Spencer says, trying to avoid talking about it.

"What? You know what I think it is? You're mad at me, because I left just like that, without looking back. And then all of a sudden I'm flying across the world with Emily, helping JJ and Hotch hide the fact that she's alive." Willow says, making Spencer huffs, as he looks at her angrily.

"Yeah, and the fact that before you left you looked me in the eyes and said you love me. You said you couldn't handle working for the BAU, and now here you are. You are now a full fledged agent, and can go on the field. You couldn't stay, when I asked you, but now all of a sudden you can." Spencer snaps, making Willow look at him in disbelief.

"Are you serious right now, Spencer? That's not fair! You have no idea what I went through. I watched two of my students die in front of my eyes, and I spent months trying to rebuild a life. After having been kidnapped twice in a year, I didn't even feel safe anymore." Willow breaths out, and he softens slightly as he can see the pain in her eyes. "I know it's not fair that I came back when I said those things last time, but you can't hate me for this."

"It's not fair, because you didn't let a chance for me to understand how you felt, you shut me out and moved to Canada." Spencer says, making her bite her lip.

"Spence, I'm sorry."

"You don't have the right to call me that." He says, before he walks, making Willow's eyes burn with tears. The team watches Spencer walk away, and Emily calls after him, but he ignores her. They all look at Willow, who seems ready to burst into tears.