CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE: LAST BREATH !

7x06

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IT HAD BEEN A FEW WEEKS SINCE CASEY MET THAT CUTE GUY AT THE COFFEE SHOP. They were supposed to be going out pretty soon. For now, Casey was piled on with paperwork at her desk and took a break once she noticed Emily and JJ staring up at Hotch's office and Garcia handed him some paperwork.

"I so don't miss that face." JJ comments. "No matter how many cases we solve, there's always more." Emily tosses her thumb over to Reid. "Insert Dr. Reid's statistic about active serial killers at any given time here." There had been no response from Reid - which caused Casey to look up from the paperwork she was filling out. "Reid?" Emily asked.

Casey turns her head over and sees that Reid is in deep thought. At first, Casey thought he was staring at her, but he had been looking over at a focused Rossi. "Spencer..." JJ whistled. "Earth to Reid." Casey adds. "There's something wrong." Reid said.

"Why do you say that?" JJ asks as she turned over to Rossi. "He's been reading the same page for sixteen minutes and twenty-four seconds." Reid says, standing up from his seat and looking at his watch. "Maybe it's a really good article." Emily figured. "It's never taken him longer than eleven minutes, seventeen seconds to turn a page." Reid explains.

"You time how long it—" JJ and Casey give Emily a look. "Are you really surprised? It's Reid." Casey comments. "What's your theory?" Emily asks.

"I'm extrapolating probabilities as we speak." Reid begins to head over to Rossi, which leads to JJ, Emily and Casey to follow behind. Morgan walks through the doors and over to Rossi, as if on cue. "Oh, hey. Rossi, you think you could help me with a consult for Wildwood PD?" Rossi looks up at Morgan and he looks like he hasn't gotten much sleep. "Uh, sure." He says, uneasily.

"Now, that I noticed." JJ comments. "Is something going on?" Morgan asks, catching on. "How did it go the other night?" Casey asks, talking about how Rossi has rekindled with his first wife and she raised an eyebrow at him. "What happened the other night?" Morgan asks, interested. "You okay?" Reid asks.

"Well, why wouldn't I be?" Rossi shrugs. Emily and JJ exchange a look. "You seem distracted." JJ tells. "I'm considering a purchase." Rossi says and Casey and everyone looks down at his newspaper of an ad for a thrift store. "Come on, now, Rossi, you know we're not buying that. What's really going on?" Morgan asks.

Rossi sighs, "Look, it was a late night with Ringo and not enough coffee. I mean, the guy's a world-class drummer, but don't think I didn't wipe the floor with him in rock band." Rossi says, sipping from his coffee mug.

Casey furrows her brows at him. "All right, what do you think?" JJ asks. "He could be telling the truth." Emily shrugs. "I played him to the easy level." Casey says. "I can't tell." Reid says, furrowing his eyebrows too. "And you never will." Rossi points to Reid, who smirks a bit.

"Let's get started." Everyone looks at Hotch, who's heading over to the round table with Garcia. Everyone arrives and looks over at their tablets about the latest case. They would try and figure out Rossi later.

"Okay, this is Ridge Canyon Lake in California's Angeles National Forest. It's a popular destination for water sport enthusiasts. Unfortunately, some campers have discovered someone has chosen murder as their sport of choice. Three victims, all male, all found early this morning." Garcia explained.

"He used an underwater disposal site?" Rossi asks. "Mm-hmm. He weighed them down with rocks and then he hid their bodies underneath shrubbery around the lake's edge." Garcia added. "That's pretty risky, keeping a graveyard at a popular lake. This guy is showing confidence early." Emily points out. "Well, we should run priors in the area. This might not be his first party." Morgan says.

"All three victims were reported missing last week, and each of the bodies was discovered more than 30 miles from where they went missing." Hotch explained. "Any indication of sexual assault?" JJ asks. "No external signs, but time in the water might have destroyed evidence. Autopsies are being conducted now." Hotch answered.

"And I'm gonna make matters worse," Garcia commented. "This is Nick Skirvin and he was abducted early this morning." Hotch continued: "Witness reports indicate a blitz attack."

Casey reads from the tablet. "His friends were on the water and saw a figure strike Nick from behind just before they lost contact. Could they give a description?" Casey asks. "Probably white, definitely male." JJ adds.

"Nothing more specific. They said the unsub had dragged Nick into the woods by the time they reached the shore." Hotch says. "Fast and efficient, and he is unafraid of a heavy police presence." Emily says.

"If he's dumping the bodies in one location, it's a good bet the area means something to him. He probably lives in or near the forest." Rossi says. "Unfortunately, Angeles National Forest 1,016 square miles of terrain, ranging in elevation from 1,200 to 10,064 feet." Reid explains.

"Which means that if the unsub is familiar with the area, Nick Skirvin could be anywhere." Emily adds.

So, the team headed out for the jet and they debrief over the case. Morgan stands with a coffee mug in his hand and tries to run it over. "With no apparent evidence of physical violence or sexual assault, we could be looking at an unsub who gets off on the torture of drowning." Morgan explains.

        "So what's the significance of the water burial?" JJ asks. "Is he visiting the dump sites to relive his crimes, or is he using it as a forensic countermeasure?" Casey speaks up next, "It could be both. If the dump site's doubling as his trophy collection, he won't be happy if it's been disturbed and he'll want to make a new one quickly."

        Garcia pops up on a laptop screen to deliver news. "Uh, guys, I'm afraid that's just happened. Nick Skirvin's body has been recovered, only it wasn't found in Ridge Canyon, it was found in Lake Banter, which is 20 miles away. Visual aid to follow. And postscript, you do not want to know how many hits you get if you Google this forest plus murder. To say it should be called the Angeles National unsub dump site is an understatement."

     "How was the body recovered so quickly?" Emily asks. "It wasn't way down. Nick's body was just found at the edge of the lake by some campers." Garcia informs. "Garcia, start compiling a list of missing persons and crimes in the area." Hotch orders.

        "Faster than a Hotch rocket." Garcia smirks and then realized what she said and immediately hangs up from the call. Casey and Morgan chuckle to themselves.

        "So the unsub knew that his burial site had been compromised, and he adapted by venturing outside his comfort zone." Hotch stated. "And he changed his victimology. Look at Nick Skirvin compared to the other three victims. They were all dark-haired, well-built men, but Nick is an average blond." Enily shows on her tablet screen.

        "He could be an impulsive kill, not thought out like the others." Rossi asks. "Then why not submerge the body? Allowing it to be uncovered so soon seems counterintuitive to the self-preservation instincts he's displayed so far." Reid tells. "The disturbance of his old disposal site could have thrown him off his game." Rossi says. "Or he's trying to shake us. By using another lake, he just doubled the size of his killing field." Morgan says. "And our search area." JJ adds.

         Hotch splits the team up and everyone joins back at the PD to debrief. "It looks like we're definitely looking at a sadist. Killing them once isn't enough." Morgan says. "He has to resuscitate his victims until he can't bring them back again."

         "So why the change from choking to multiple drowning?" JJ asks. "With the damage to Jake's throat, the unsub wasn't able to successfully resuscitate him." Reid says. "Resuscitating them makes him feel more powerful." Hotch says. "Which means he has no power in his everyday life." Rossi tells.

        "But the change in victimology is interesting. Nick Skirvin was the smallest, but he had the most defensive wounds on his body." Emily stated. "He fought back the most. Maybe the unsub was injured in one of the attacks." Casey assumes. "He's targeting easier prey to complete his end game." Rossi nods.

        Suddenly, Rossi's cell phone rings and he checks it and excused himself from the room. Casey watched as he quickly exits the room.

       "There's something else. The ME tested diatom levels in the bodies and it turns out the unsub drowns his victims at different locations every time, not just where he abducts them or where the bodies are later discovered." Reid explains.

        "Well, that's pretty risky, considering the community's on full alert. This guy's intelligent, resourceful, and criminally sophisticated." Morgan tells. "Why is transporting the bodies so important to him?" Hotch asks the million dollar question.

         Casey looks over and sees Rossi's serious face as he picks up his call. The next day, he had isolated himself in a room and Casey decided to stay behind to see what's going on with him. He'd been acting odd for quite some time. Casey knew she needed to return the favor and check up on him like he always checked up on her. The girl knocks on the door and lets herself in. Rossi is on his phone, texting.

        "I take it that wasn't Ringo inviting you to another party on the phone yesterday." Casey says. "You'd guess correctly." Rossi says, placing his phone down and Casey sits down in the seat in front of him. "Remember when I wanted to stop playing piano but I didn't have the heart to tell Uncle Gideon that I wanted to stop?"

         Rossi chuckles a bit. "Yes, I do remember that. You were so worried about what he was gonna say to you. Or if he was gonna force you to take more lessons." Casey nods, "Well, I went to you for advice and you told me and I quote: 'It's better to tell the truth than to keep it hidden. Let it out.'." Rossi nods, remembering his words. "So, Rossi, I'm here to tell you now: it's better to tell the truth than to keep it hidden. Let it out. What's going on with you, Dave?" Casey asks.

        Rossi had taken a pause and sighed. "It was Carolyn I was on the phone with." He stated. "She has ALS." Casey's eyes widen. "Oh, my God." She said. "Rossi, I'm--" Casey stopped herself. "What do you need?"

       "It's not what I need, Casey. It's what she's asking me to do. The disease is acting quickly. Carolyn is already suffering, and she doesn't want to go out that way. She wants to die on her own terms. And when this case is over and we get back... she asked if I would help her do it." Casey's eyes widen once more. No wonder he had been acting off and a little skittish. He had been keeping this a secret.

        "Wha-What are you gonna do?" Casey asks. Rossi shakes his head. "I don't have a choice." He says. Casey covers her mouth with her hand and thinks to herself. "Oh, God." She mutters.

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        The team had informed Rossi and Casey about what they had discovered. A man by the name of Jake Shepherd had coded and come back to life. Death and recusitation. He's killing his victims so he can ask them what they experienced in their death and what they saw.

         Jake had fallen into the wrong crowd growing up and once he was revived, he woke up a changed man. "If this unsub is so obsessed with death, then Jake Shepherd was the perfect person to talk to." Hotch thought as they debriefed. "He'd been there and back again."

         "But come on, guys." Morgan spoke. "Gentle lights, shadowy figures? Those are the lights in the emergency room and the doctors hovering over the patients. We all know that. No one actually sees the afterlife."

         "I did." Reid spoke, causing everyone to look his way in disbelief. Especially Casey. "What are you talking about?" Casey asks. "Before Tobias Hankel resuscitated me, I had that exact experience. And I wasn't in an emergency room. I was in a shed." Reid explained. The memory haunted him and Casey could see it on his face.

         "Reid, you never told me that." Casey said.
         "Yeah, me neither." Morgan added.

      "I'm a man of science. I didn't know how to deal with it. There's no quantifiable proof that God exists, and yet, in that moment I was faced with something that I couldn't explain. I still can't." Reid stated.

       It made Casey think back to when she got shot in Texas. She was shot near the abdomen and that probably would've been enough to kill her but nothing happened. Sure, it was a near death experience but she never actually died. She was sure she would've seen something in the afterlife if she was. She was sure of it.

      "What if this unsub has had a similar experience and this is his way of looking for answers?" Hotch asks. "If that's the case, why kill Jake Shepherd? Why not just talk to him?" Rossi questions.

       "He wanted to see if he had the same experience as before." Emily figured out. "Once isn't enough?" JJ asks. "Not if Jake didn't see the same thing the unsub did. He wants to know if the experience can change. I can relate to that." Everyone then looks Emily's way in confusion.

        "Reid felt a warmth and saw a light. When I coded in the ambulance, all I felt was cold and darkness." Casey looked down at the ground as Emily spoke of the night she died. She had no idea she actually did die. "And I would like to think that there's a different future waiting for me."

        "You actually died?" Reid asked.

        "All right, but resuscitation is hit or miss," Morgan says. "He can't guarantee that he can actually bring anyone back, let alone that anyone will remember what happened in their moment so-called death."

        "Reid, what's the best way to make sure his victim had an experience in death?" Casey asks. Reid thinks for a moment before answering. "Keep them dead longer."

        The team had gotten their vests on and were ready to head down to Ridge Canyon Lake where an SUV was left abandoned and a woman and her son were missing. This had to have been the unsub's doing.

       Casey had joined Emily, Morgan and Reid in a vehicle while JJ, Rossi and Hotch were in another. "He's abducted two at once. He needs a spot on the lake where he can control them." Hotch tells. They had conferences in one another in a call. "Somewhere isolated that gives him the time he needs for his resuscitation ritual." JJ says.

      "How would he keep them dead longer, Reid?" Rossi asks. Casey looks over at the man next to her in the backseat. "There's a saying in the medical community that you're not dead until you're warm and dead. Colder water temperatures could lead to hypothermia, which would offer the best chance for successful reanimation."

       "Conferencing Garcia." JJ tells. Garcia's voice chirps in next. "Give it to me, baby." Morgan speaks: "Garcia, our unsub's got two more victims and he's most likely taking them to the coldest part of Ridge Canyon Lake. We need to intercept him. What have you got?"

        "Okay, checking water temperatures. Now we have several cold spots." A pinging sound started going off. "What's with the pinging, Penelope?" Morgan asks. "The colder spots just matched the most recent victim' diatom levels. The unsub's been getting colder and colder the whole time."

        "Cross-reference water temperatures with your list of prior deaths in the area. This lake means something to him other than cold water." Emily says. "If he died once before, there should be a report about it or another trauma that keeps him rooted here." Casey explains.

         "We profiled that he could be a first responder or knows the area well, so cross with your list of local law enforcement and park officials." Morgan says. "Oh, God. Daniel Whitaker was murdered fifteen years ago. He was a park attendant. His dock was in the coldest part of Ridge Canyon Lake." Garcia explains.

         "Who killed him, Garcia?" Hotch asks. "His son, Chase. Daniel physically assaulted his son and then buried him alive when he was 16. There was no mom in the picture. Chase got off light. He was out at 18." Garcia explains.

         "Garcia, check his medical history." Reid says. "Um... oh. Oh, Chase was diagnosed with lymphoma when he was ten. It went into remission when he was 12, but a few months ago he was diagnosed with stage 4 and he's been given 3 months to live." Garcia says.

        "The idea of having to face death again must be what sent him over the edge." Casey assumes. "The guy's been haunted his whole life by whatever he experienced that night." Emily added. "Send us the address, Garcia." Hotch ordered.

         Successfully, the mother and the son were saved and their unsub was arrested. He nearly drowned himself before Emily and Reid went to dive in and catch him before he did drown. When the case was over, Casey had informed Rossi that if he needed help with anything at all to talk to her if need be. She decided to help him with funeral arrangements so he wouldn't have to do so by himself. Carolyn was buried next to their son, who had died during childbirth. And Rossi had stayed next to the gravestone and Casey was right behind him.

hey lovelies!
ik nothing really happened in this chapter but oh well
sorry i haven't updated in a while i was busy watching st4-
ALSO THIS NEW SEASON IS SO FUCKING CRAZY MAN
anyways
thank you for reading!
also school is literally almost over for me and i'm lowkey sad
-mya <3