Resurrection Day Part 2

Now it was time to call Hotch; until now the notes were cryptic mind games played by a coward hiding behind the particulars of a past case. Things had suddenly changed with the mention of a possible murder. He couldn’t live with the blood of innocent people on his hands.  Penelope approached and saw the open box, the note and the eyeglasses.  She watched his face turn to an ice-cold stare as he stood motionless looking at the note and then at her.

Without a word, Morgan unlocked the door to their home and entered, cradling the box under his arm and with his and Penelope’s go-bag in his hands he stepped cautiously inside.  Quickly surveying the room he moved allowing her to enter. He was in FBI agent Profiler mode, tense and setting the bags down he ordered her again to stay in place and without question she did as he asked. Walking through the house room by room clearing and satisfying his mind that there had been no intrusion into their personal sanctuary, he finally rejoined her in the front room.

“Derek? I’m scared, you have to call Hotch.”

Pulling her to him gently and resting his chin on her head he held her close he could feel her trembling and he wasn’t going to allow anyone to make her afraid in her own home. Just then his phone rang alerting him to a new case. Seconds later hers rang with the same message.

BAU Headquarters

“Detective Artie Purchase of the D.C. Police Department is asking for our help in a multiple homicide.” Hotch began.

The team slowly began thumbing through the case files in front of them, pausing momentarily on each of the gruesome pictures and eerie similarities from the past. Hotch watched their reactions trying to remain calm and keep his memories of the case pressed down and under wraps.

The Reaper had terrorized the city of Boston in the mid 90’s during his early years with the BAU and it was his first case as lead profiler he remembered being called in by Detective Tom Shaunessy and then abruptly sent away before even giving a profile on the UnSub responsible for the deaths of twenty people. Shaunessy had secretly made a deal with the Reaper, as he had been nicknamed, and the killings stopped. Hotch left Boston but he didn’t leave the case. On his death bed, Shaunessy confessed to Hotch the reason for sending him home and expressed his fear that the killings would soon begin again.

The killings indeed began again. The deal that had been offered to the Boston detective was made to Hotch, which was turned down flat. George Foyet, the Reaper proved to be one of the most famous killers they’d ever come up against, hitting the team up close and personal; Morgan had been haunted by his run in with him and Hotch had suffered the loss of his wife Haley before finally killing George Foyet in his home with his bare hands. The thought that someone was re-creating his crimes was hitting each one of them too close for comfort.

“Tell him!” Garcia said forcefully staring at Morgan.

“Garcia!”

“Tell him or I will, Derek!”

The team looked at the two and Hotch turned to face the agent face to face.

“Tell me what?” He asked sternly.

“Someone has been sending me messages…”

“What’s that got to do with this case?”

“The messages are from George Foyet.”

The proverbial pin dropped hitting the floor with a loud resounding clang all eyes opened wide, mouths gapping the silence that blanketed the room seemed to smother them.

“Come on…George Foyet is dead!” Rossi said.

“Morgan, when did this start?” Hotch sounded irritated.

“Yesterday mixed in with my mail was a letter that said, ‘If you stop hunting me, I’ll stop hunting them.’ Then earlier today there was another letter here on my desk and when we got home tonight there was a box on my porch with a note and a pair of eyeglasses.”

“Morgan, why am I just now hearing about this!”

“Hotch, I thought it was a joke.”

“Morgan, the last victim was missing his eyeglasses.”

“What?”

Morgan felt as if someone had sucker punched him in the gut as he slumped in his chair.

“We need to get all of the notes and the boxes to the lab asap!”

“Hotch…”

“Yeah?”

“I got a note when we were in Idaho on this last case…”

Hotch ran his hand through his hair and began pacing the floor. This wasn’t good. Whoever this was had access to case information and knew too much about Derek- where he lived and the cases he and the team had worked.

“Derek, you can’t work this case.” Reid interjected carefully.

“Like hell I can’t!”

“He’s right, Morgan.” Rossi added.

“I’m working this case!”

“No you’re not!”

“Hotch! Come on, this son-of-a-bitch is taunting me! I don’t like being taunted!”

“Morgan, you’re a victim; for some reason this guy is targeting you specifically. Until we find him, you’re going to be under close protection.”

“Hotch, please don’t do this!”

“That’s an order, Morgan. End of discussion?”

Morgan slammed his hand down on the table and then clenched his fist trying to regain control of his emotions. Hotch watched him carefully understanding but needing to maintain control. No one had suffered more than he had at the hands of Foyet and he wondered if he would be able to revisit the dark place that had become a part of his history, his present and surely his future.

Hotch split the team up sending Reid and Alex to the coroner’s office, Rossi and JJ headed to the crime scene and Hotch headed to the precinct to meet with Detective Purchase.

Morgan was more than a little irritated as he stayed behind yanked out of the field for his own protection. He knew department protocol but he didn’t like being anyone’s victim but for now he was stuck waiting while the rest of the team solved the case without him.

“Come on Baby Boy, you can keep Mama company while I hunt down this scum bag.”

Penelope headed toward her lair with her pouting boyfriend trailing behind her. This case had gotten under his skin; if someone knew where he lived, the cases he worked, then they knew about Garcia and the fact that they were a couple. His anxiety level doubled imagining her getting caught in the crossfire or being targeted by this sick monster. He didn’t want to tell her what was on his mind, but he was determined not to let her out of his sight until this case was closed.

Police Department- Downtown, D.C.

Hotch was greeted by an anxious detective Purchase. He was oddly relieved to see another person looking as if he’d just awoken dead center in his worst nightmare. The detective didn’t know half of what the Reaper had done and what he really meant, the damage he’d done to his life, but it seemed that he had grasped the severity of the situation.

Purchase offered the agent his hand and thanked him for responding so soon.

“Agent Hotchner, thank you for coming so quickly.”

“I hope we can help.”

“Where’s the rest of your team?”

“At the coroner’s office and the crime scene.”

“You all don’t waste time. Impressive.”

“We are intimately aware of the Reaper…we need to stop this…soon!”

The two headed toward a conference room that had been set up for the team and began to discuss the case.

“I remember hearing about a case like this in Boston and I know you guys chased this sicko around the country for a while, so I thought I better call you in.”

“Thanks. It seems as though one of my agents have been targeted by this UnSub.”

“Really?”

“He may actually be the intended victim.”

“But…I don’t understand?”

Just as Hotch was about to explain another detective came to the door with a frantic wide-eyed look on his face.

“Sorry for the interruption, boss…”

“What’s up, Hollins?”

“We just found two more bodies.”