DAMAGED // spencer reid

3

We walk into the police department and spot the rest of the team set up in the large conference room.

"Give it to me," Hotch says.

"Our unsub left almost no trace of himself behind. Everything was spotless and untouched, nothing seemed out of place. The coroner managed to get a partial print off of Ashley, but we shouldn't rely on it." Reid answers.

"Grant?"

"The unsub caught Ashley between three and five when her parents hadn't yet returned home from work. He most likely jumped her in in her yard so he could threaten her to let him in. I predict that our sexual sadist is also an early schizophrenic with potential ADHD, it would explain the impulsiveness and behavior but he can still control enough of himself to cover his tracks. I think we should run healthcare professionals who were recently diagnosed with mental illness or let go suddenly and without warning through the system. We might be able to narrow it down a little bit."

"On it," Garcia interrupts, tapping away furiously on her monitors.

"We'll need more than this to create a profile. Everyone take a break, get something to eat. Rest your brains for the next fifteen minutes and gather back here once Garcia can get us some more info." Hotch says, leaving the room. I lean back in my chair as everyone else leaves the room, debating on whether to take a quick power nap or not.

"Coffee?" A voice next to me says, causing me to pop my eyes back open. Spencer is holding out a styrofoam cup in one hand and his own in the other.

"Thank you," I give him a grateful look before greedily grabbing the cup and bringing it to my mouth. The police department coffee is never anything special, like this one, it always tastes bitter and faintly of gasoline, but it always does the trick.

"How's your first case going?" He asks, sitting down in the chair next to mine.

"Exhausting. I mean, working for the bureau is always exhausting, but this is just... different. You know?"

"Actually, I do. If it's any condolence, you've been doing really great work so far," Spencer smiles shyly at me.

"That's very kind of you," I grin back at him. "I'm glad we're working together. This whole team in general is amazing, I was very lucky to get this position."

"Not really, Addie. You worked hard and earned your position just like everybody else."

"I know, I know. But my uncle was a well-decorated FBI Agent back in the day, he's the main reason I decided I wanted to join the force. Sometimes it still feels like I have to prove myself, prove that I'm my own person who deserves to be here."

"You do, nobody thinks differently. Who's your uncle, if you don't mind my asking?"

"SSA Mitchell Kennedy, my mom's brother. He's a good man, practically raised me." I smile briefly when thinking of my uncle.

"I've heard of him, he brought down the Rochester Ripper, right?"

"Yep. Still brags about it to this day," I laugh. "I forgot about your eidetic memory, Dr."

"Yeah, well, sometimes it comes in handy and other times it's a burden."

"Seriously? I think it's the absolute greatest thing ever. I would die for a gift like that, you should be proud of it, Spencer." He looks at me curiously with a slight smile on his face, like he was surprised that anybody would think that. Just then, the whole team came flooding back into the room.

"We have a new lead on our unsub. Patrick Lewis is a thirty year old white male who has recently served a night in jail due after he was found 'window peeping'. We looked further into his records and it turns out he works as an administrative assistant in a local veterinary. We're still looking into medical records to find the history of mental illness, but he seems like our guy," Hotch says as Garcia pulls up a picture of him on her screen.

"He has the motive to rape these girls, what with the 'peeping', and he also possesses access to drugs that are used to lethally inject pets. Problem is, I don't believe the court is going to say we have enough evidence to receive a search warrant," Garcia finishes.

"We need to get creative. Any ideas?" JJ asks.

"How about going undercover? The sick freak likes twenty year-olds, and we got a pretty little thing right here," Derek says, nodding in my direction.

"He's right, I could arrange a visit for my 'pet' and give false information on my identification papers, set him up," I agree.

"Are we sure this is the safest idea?" Reid asks cautiously.

"If Grant's all set, so am I. Let's get her a change of clothes and wire her up," Hotch says. I nod.

An hour later I'm dressed in jeans, a hoodie and sneakers with my curly hair tied up in a ponytail. I'm sitting in a bureau van a street over and lifting up my hoodie so that Morgan and JJ can tape the wire to my bra.

"All set, kid? You know the plan?" Morgan asks one last time.

"Got it. Don't worry, I'm a good liar," I smirk before hopping out of the van and heading to the veterinary. As soon as I walk in, I spot Patrick from his picture. Taking a deep breath, I put on a cheery face and approach him.

"Hi there!"

"Uh, um, hello," Patrick says, looking up from his computer.

"My name is Darcy Chapman, I'm new to town. I was wondering if it was possible to get my dog an appointment some time next week? She's the cutest little thing," I say, flashing a smile.

"You'll have to fill out these forms," Patrick answers, his hand lingering on the clipboard when I reach out to take it from him.

"Agh, perfect! It's always so hard to find a good vet after moving to a new place, you know?" I chat excitedly while making sure to fill out false information. I give the name of a fake pet, billing info and the address of the FBI "fake house". "I haven't really met anyone yet, I spend my nights alone! I'm going out to an early dinner tonight, though which will be great! But I'm hoping to become more involved with the community at some point, this is such a great town!" I continue to gush.

"It really is," Patrick replies, watching me intently as I give him back the forms. I can see his eyes quickly scanning the paper for the address.

"Anyway, I'd better head out. Thank you again for all your help, if you need any more information you know where to reach me!" I smile and wave before leaving the office, feeling Patrick's stare on me the entire time. As soon as I'm outside and out of eyesight, I let out a shaky breath I didn't know I'd been holding. I found the corner and knock once on the FBI van before JJ opens the doors.

"You did great, Addie," she says, helping me in and closing the door behind me before Derek drives back to the precinct.

"Thanks. What now?" I ask, my body finally calming down.

"We go back to the precinct. Patrick should be getting out of work in the next hour, and he'll probably be at the house around 6," Morgan replies.

"You're going to have to change into something more... appealing. We'll have one of the agents drop you off at the house around 6, pretending that you just got back from an early dinner date. He'll want to strike right after you get inside, to catch you off guard," JJ adds. I nod as we drive back.