CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO: IN CONCLUSION: HOTCH IS SUPERMAN !

6x06
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CASEY WILLOWS NEVER UNDERSTOOD THE HALLOWEEN HYPE. Of course, she loved it as a child but as a teenager she grew to love it less and less, year by year. This year, she decided she was gonna stay in, put her feet up, watching classic horror movies and pass out candy to her neighbor kids in her apartment complex.

She was currently in the roundtable room with Rossi and Morgan, reading over the file that had been sent over. Emily and Reid had walked in as Reid was explaining something that no one else was going to listen to.

"It became a little more commercialized in the 1950s with trick-or-treat, and today it rivals only Christmas in terms of popularity." Emily sat down and sighed: "All I asked was what he was doing this weekend."

Reid continued: "I'm toying with the notion of either going to the Edgar Allan Poe Shadow Puppet Theater or the reenactment of the 19th century Phantasmagoria." Penelope walked in the room and Rossi said: "I don't want to know."

"I do." Casey started, looking up at the man in front of her. When Reid looked at her in her seat, ready to listen, he nearly had a stroke. No one actually took time out of their day to listen to him. But Casey always has. So, he started: "Phantasmagorias are these amazing pre-cinema projected ghost shows invented in France, where the showman attempted to spook the audience using science magic. And it just so happens that I have an extra ticket."

Reid had looked straight as Casey as he said that and Garcia and Casey exchanged a look and Garcia said: "Tempting."

"Guys, I wouldn't have to worry about losing my feminine curves if you all paid more attention to all the trees we're consuming around here." Garcia sat with the team as she passed out the files. "When did you become an eco-freak?" Morgan asked. "Baby, I was born green."

Hotch walks into the room. "We're going to Detroit." He stated. "Well, there goes my two-day break." Casey sighed. "It's Halloween weekend." Reid complained.

"Arson investigators have noticed a 3-year trend in the days leading up to Halloween." Hotch explained and Reid looked up and said: "Devil's Night."

"This unsub is killing only these three days out of the year." Hotch said. "How's he doing it?"' Rossi questioned. "He's burning his victims alive." Hotch stated. "He's abducting seemingly random people and dumping their bodies in abandoned parts of town. He struck again last night."

"Tony Torrell, 40." Garcia spoke. "He lives in the suburbs, but he was found twenty miles away in the Rivertown District." Rossi speaks up next: "He's attacking the city at its most vulnerable time."

"What does he do during the rest of the year?" Reid asks. "Yeah, why does he choose to do it only once a year leading up to Halloween night?" Casey questioned.

"He's dormant." Rossi assumed. "You know, arsonists are typically white males between 17 and 25 who can't stay away from fire." Morgan added in: "Yeah, they're addicted to it and there's no rehab." Reid adds on: "And they target dwellings, not people."

"So you're saying he burns his victims alive but he's not an arsonist?" Garcia asks. "Fire is simply his weapon." Morgan tells. "And Devil's Night gives him the perfect cover to kill." Reid added.

"Then we've got 48 hours before he disappears again." Hotch says. "Well, his last victim was athletic. He wouldn't be easy to subdue." Morgan told. "The offender must be just as strong or might have an upper hand if he's younger." Casey added. "Still, how does he transport his victims across the city and get them inside buildings without being noticed?" Emily questioned.

        The team headed onto the jet, briefing over the case. "Now, I thought Devil's Night was Halloween Eve." Emily spoke. "The moniker "Devil's Night" is somewhat deceiving. In Detroit, it's actually a three-day citywide cultural phenomenon, complete with masks, chaos, and costumes." Reid explained while Rossi followed with: "Say that three times fast." Casey chuckled at the remark.

       "Sounds like Mardi Gras." Emily commented. "Yeah, a violent one. Vandals and amateur arsonists literally set hundreds of fires." Reid says. "Who burns their own city?" Rossi asks. "Serial killers, apparently." Casey says.

        "It started as pranks in the 1930s but escalated in the 1970s with disenfranchised youth." Reid says. "Well, given today's economy, it must be a free-for-all. They've got record-breaking unemployment and foreclosures, leaving a lot of displaced, desperate people." Morgan explained.

        "And every single one of these victims suffered unimaginable pain." Emily says. "I'm sure that's what gets him off, watching them burn." Morgan tells. "It gives him power and control." Hotch added.

        "The top of the whodunit list is first responders," Morgan says. "Firefighters, arson investigators, cops, and paramedics." Reid continued: "Civil servants with a hero complex."
         "All of whom will be helping us." Rossi adds. "This guy's angry." Emily tells. "Aren't they all?" Casey asks. "Not like this. Have you seen these?" Emily hands the pictures of the victims' bodies over to Casey.

"Extreme anger usually manifests from a quick temper, but this guy's patient." Reid tells. "I'm gonna ask Garcia to notify us the minute that someone's reported missing." Hotch announces.

"Burns three people annually. It's like his Christmas." Rossi says. "And the rest of the year he just plans-- targeting his victims and then choosing the buildings he wants to kill them in." Morgan says. "There's a flaw in his plan. We know about it."

Hotch places the team into groups — Rossi, Reid and Casey all going to the fire department to meet with Lieutenant Garner. "We're stretched as it is, but we've set up a joint task force with the Detroit P. D. to catch this guy." Garner stated, leading them into another room.

"It's pretty extensive." Reid says, being the first to follow behind Garner. "I'd say don't profile me, but you're in a roomful of suspects, right?" Garner asks. "A city full." Hotch says.

"Victims abducted across every socioeconomic divide." Reid stated. "And this son of a bitch is about to burn a few of them alive." Garner added.

      "Problem is, we've gotta catch up." Rossi says. "And we know he's gonna be watching." Hotch finished. "Well, we're gonna bust him this year." Garner says.

"Yeah and if we don't, who else are you gonna call? The Ghostbusters?" Casey joked, gaining a look from everyone in the room. "Sorry, little Halloween joke." She apologizes.

     "We've got two agents on the way to last night's crime scene." Hotch told. "Great. I'll meet them there. I hope we find something soon. It gets dark early this time of year." Garner told. "And we'll head to the morgue." Hotch decided. "Hope you have a strong stomach." Garner stated.

      They had gone to the morgue and went over the bodies and went over the fact that the unsub was covering the victim's face. Morgan and Emily found more and Rossi had brought in Tony's wife in to have a cognitive interview with her. They found out more info about him and what he looked like. He had burn marks that covered one side of his face — from what Kiersten, Tony's wife, remembered.

      "You make him sound like he's Freddy Krueger or something." Garner started as the whole group had been settled in a room. "No, but I do think he's severely burned." Rossi says.

       "It explains why he chooses this time of the year. He doesn't have to hide his scars." Reid says. "What about his victims?" Garner asks. "He's punishing them for wronging him." Hotch says.

       "Wronging him? What about his second victim?" Garner holds up a photo of the second victim. "Have you looked at Josephine Davis' life? She was the nicest woman in the world. How did she wrong this guy?"

      "He's had interactions with all of his victims, some more personal than others." Hotch told. "So he's acting out of revenge." Garner concluded. "Kiersten and Tony didn't even speak to him."

       Emily adds in: "Maybe not that night, but at some point in the past." Morgan thinks for a second. "Now, wait a minute. Josephine was abducted from her husband. Tony was abducted from his wife."

       "You think these couples represent the happiness he covets or lacks?" Casey questions. "Or something he lost," Morgan says. "He's a young guy with a deformity. Major insecurities come with that."

        "A trauma like that would be devastating for him and anyone in his life." Emily added. "Do you know how rare it is for an arsonist to be a burn victim? Less than 3.5%." Garner tells.

         "This guy's not an arsonist." Morgan tells. "He's a serial killer who uses fire. And that choice of weapon tells us that he's aggressive, driven, and destructive, just like fire itself."

        "But why would someone so controlling choose the most unpredictable weapon?" Emily asks. "This juxtaposition tells us there's more going on with him than we realize." Reid states. "He's probably experienced some kind of loss these past few years that started him down this path." Rossi says. "We should look at accidents where couples were burned." Hotch suggests.

        "We're talking about hundreds of fires." Garner tells. "Focusing on ones where gasoline was the accelerant." Hotch finishes and a cell phone rings and Morgan picks it up.

         "Leaving his victims in the heart of Rivertown, in the center of these buildings themselves, may be subconscious on his part, but it says that this affected his very core." Emily explains. "All right, hold on." Morgan puts the phone down. "Somebody else has just been abducted."

         "How do we know this is our guy?" Garner asks. "Because his daughter said a monster took her daddy away." Hotch immediately got Garcia on the phone and she began the investigation with the new victim.

          "The victim's name is Christopher Edwards. He's 35. He lives in the suburbs." Garcia informed. "What part?" Garner asked. "Birmingham."

"How far is that from the Rivertown District?" Hotch asked Garner. "Not more than 40 minutes. He might already be inside." Hotch nodded at Garner's words. "Let's lock it down. We'll trap him."

"I'm going down there." Garner volunteers himself. "I'll go with you." Hotch follows. "Garcia, have Detroit PD set up roadblocks." The two leaves and Garcia nods: "Got it."

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Christopher Edwards was found burnt alive and Morgan and Emily began to do more research on the storage unit they were at before. They found out that the unsub's name is Kaman Scott. The team had all gone on their separate ways, Casey going with Hotch and Garner in a vehicle and Garcia on the phone with them. "Friends, we're on 3-way." Garcia informed. "What's going on?" Hotch asks.

Suddenly, Morgan's voice comes up. "Hotch, we found some pictures of Kaman's girlfriend at his apartment." Garcia followed: "So I blew up those pictures. In one of them she appears to be in a restaurant, so I zoomed in on the sign that says "o" apostrophe "s, " cross-checked that with restaurants in the area, and there are five diners. Three are in the suburbs, two are in Highland Park, and one is in Rivertown."

"What's the name of the restaurant?" Casey asks. "Jay-Mo's." Garcia told. "And this appears to be Kaman's and that girl's favorite place 'cause all the pictures were taken there."

Hotch turns to Garner. "Have you heard of Jay-Mo's?" He asks. "It's a few blocks from here." Garner nods. "Good work, Garcia. We're on the way." Hotch tells.

Not a moment later, Garcia called the team up again. "Hotch, a fire alert just went out, it's at Jay-Mo's diner." Hotch spun the vehicle towards the curb and zoomed to the restaurant.

They had stopped right in front of the smoky building. "Backup's on the way." Garner told. "There isn't time." Hotch said, getting out of the car. "Hotch, wait!" Casey struggled to get her seatbelt off as Garner called for units. "All units, 565 East Jefferson. I repeat, all units, 565 East Jefferson." Hotch grabbed his gun and went into the building and Casey got out of the car, knowing she couldn't go in to get Hotch.

"Hotch!" Casey yelled from outside the building. If he dies, it's my fault. I could've stopped him from entering the building. A million thoughts ran through Casey's head as she waited. All she could do was yell: "Hotch!"

Luckily, Hotch ran out of the building, helping a man out before the building exploded. Casey landed on the ground and looked over at the building and then at her boss. "Are you crazy?" She questioned.

The ambulance had gotten there just in time to help the man that Hotch helped. "BP's 84 over 36," Garner told. "The owner's car was stolen."

"I need to ask him some questions." Hotch stopped the gurney. "He's in and out of consciousness." Morgan, Emily, Reid and Rossi had gotten there just in time as Hotch talked to the man.

"I'm with the FBI. Can you give me a thumbs-up for yes and a thumbs-down for no?" The man gave Hotch a thumbs-up. "Did Kaman Scott do this to you?" Hotch asks. "We have 15 minutes to get him to the hospital." The EMS informed. "Just give him a sec." Casey told.

Hotch pulled up a picture of Kaman's girlfriend on his phone. "Do you know this girl?" He asked. "Tracy," The man breathed raspily, taking his mask off. "Tracy. Don't let him. Please stop him."

"Is Tracy nearby?" Hotch asked and the man responded with yes. With that, Hotch had everything he needed. The team had met back up with Hotch and Casey.

"Hotch, you ran into a burning building?" Morgan questioned. "He ran into a burning building." Casey confirmed. "I didn't have a choice." Hotch told.

"Hotch, you just ran into a burning building," Casey looks over at Reid. "He ran into a burning building, it was like he was freaking Superman!" Everyone looked at the girl and Casey realized her behavior was inappropriate; again. "Probably not the right time, sorry."

"Her name's Tracy. Kaman's trying to find her." Hotch announces to the team. "That man put his life on the line to protect her." Reid told. "So she means something to him." Emily says. "She means everything." Hotch stated.

They had Garcia call the team once more. "Jay-Mo's real name is James Morris. He was married to Loretta Butler." Hotch looked at the screen in front of him. "Does he have any children?" He asks.

"Yes, they have one daughter. Her name is Tracy Anderson. She was born in 1987." Garcia told. "Why does she have a different last name?" Casey asks. "When James' wife died, his sister Susan Anderson adopted Tracy."

"And where is she now?" Morgan asks. "She currently lives in Ohio." Garcia says and Hotch shakes his head. "No, he says she's nearby. Where do the Andersons live?" Garcia looked at her screen. "Uh, Indian Village."

"That's three miles away. Let's go." Garner says and Hotch looks back at the youngest member on the team. "Willows, you're with us." Casey looks at her boss, awestruck and follows behind in a haste.

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Casey had her FBI vest on and her heart was beating out of her chest as Hotch and Garner drove down to the area. Garcia was on the phone with the group. "Garcia, have any fires been reported in the area?" Hotch questioned. "Negative, but medics and fire suppression are on the way."

"Good. Tell them to stand by." Hotch says. "Roger that. Sir, there's one more thing I gotta tell you." Hotch and Casey are informed that Tracy was pregnant when Kaman was in a coma and named their now five year-old son after him.

The three arrived at the residence and snuck through the backyard. Casey followed her boss, her gun up in the air. "I'm calling backup." Garner informed after looking inside of the house. "If anybody moves, we're in trouble. We need a shooter." Hotch told.

Garner spoke into his walkie. "We're here. Your man wants everyone to hold their position. We need a single rifle. I say again, all units, hold your position." Morgan spoke: "Copy that."

Kaman had tied Susan's hand behind her back with duct tape and did the same thing to her husband. Kaman held a lighter up, preparing to burn everyone alive. He looked beaten as blood ran down his head. Tracy had found Kaman and everyone else and they were beginning to talk. A young boy ran into the scene.

Backup arrived and Hotch decided to try and get into the house. "Hotch!" Casey harshly whispered and she decided to follow behind him into the house.

Casey held her gun up, following slowly behind Hotch. "Kaman, drop it." Hotch spoke and Kaman looked over, knocked over the lighter fluid and held the lighter up. "You shoot me, I drop this and they burn. Then what?" Kaman threatened.

"You move, you die." Hotch stated. "I'm already dead." Kaman spoke. Casey decided to try and interact with the scene. She slowly approached behind Hotch, slowly going in front of him. "I ain't got nothin' else to live for." Kaman told.

"Tracy, you need to tell him." Casey told, holding her gun up to Kaman still but maintaining eye contact with Tracy. "Tell me what? What the hell's going on here?" Kaman questioned. "He needs to know." Casey looked at the girl assuringly.

Tracy knew that the secret had to come out eventually. "Kaman..." She started. "While you were in a coma, I found out I was pregnant." Kaman looked at the woman. "No..." He muttered.

"I didn't know what to do. I thought you were gonna die. Baby, I'm so sorry." Tracy stated, holding her son close. "You're telling me... that's my son?" Kaman questioned, looking at the boy in front of him.

Casey began to approach Kaman, slowly as she put her gun down and into her holster. "Kaman, you don't want to do this in front of your son. Put it down." She told.

"Baby, if you don't do it for me, do it for him." Tracy told and Kaman looked at his son. "Don't you want to know his name?" Hotch asked. Casey looked at Kaman and then at the lighter in his hand as he stopped the flames from coming out of it. He handed the lighter to Casey and she sighed in relief.

Kaman looked at his son and bent down to his level and asked: "What's your name?" The boy responded with: "Daniel Kaman Anderson." The boy put a hand up to his father's scarred face and Casey watched the scene as it unfolded.

Casey watched from the porch as Kaman was taken in the back of a police car and his son looked at him through the window of the police car. The girl stood frozen on the porch, watching as they drove away.

Her mind was racing and suddenly stopped once someone spoke. "Casey." The girl looked over at her boss standing in front of her. "You alright?" He questioned.

Casey nodded, "Yeah," She said, scratching the back of her head. "Yeah, I just... is it always this thrilling being on the field?" She slightly smiled. "Because I gotta be honest, Hotch, I haven't felt like I did tonight in a while." It was true, Casey's adrenaline was pumping after tonight. She was beginning to live so much of the adventure in her job.

"You know, for the last month, I've been questioning myself a lot. Wondering if I'm making the right choices... if I'm strong enough to be here. And tonight... tonight reminded me of why I wanted this job in the first place. I wanted to help people, save people. Tonight reminded me that I am strong. And I believe I did good tonight." Casey explained.

Hotch slightly smiled and put a hand on the girl's shoulder. "You did." He told. "You did good."

this chapter was so boring
but oh well
at least i updated lmao
thank you for reading!
-mya <3