CHAPTER SEVENTY-TWO: WICHITA !

7x07

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ROSSI HAD TAKEN TIME OFF FOR A WHILE AND SHORTLY ARRIVED BACK AT WORK WHEN THE TEAM HAD A CASE IN KANSAS. The team met up at the roundtable room as Garcia began to go over the case.

         "The bodies of two unidentified boys were found near Wichita, Kansas, a week apart. Both were Caucasian and between the ages of 15 and 17." Garcia explained. "They were each found mangled in the aftermath of a tornado." Emily stated.

          "Yeah, but that's not what did them in. The M.E. has determined that the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head before the storms hit." Garcia informs. "Well, the death blow in each case was in almost exactly the same spot." Morgan says. "Now, what about all the other damage to their bodies? Some of their limbs are missing." JJ adds.

         "Yeah, victim number one, his right leg was taken off. victim number 2, both arms were severed." Casey says. "But was that because of the tornado or the unsub?" Emily asks. "The M. E. still hasn't discovered that. He's a busy guy. Major storms have hit the area. Twenty-three dead. The morgue is slammed." Garcia says.

          "It fits the unsub. He's got a hell of a sadistic streak." Rossi says. "Well, a tornado would clear the air and give the unsub the privacy to do his thing." Morgan adds on. "He may be using the storm as the body disposition modality." Reid says, walking around the table.

          Casey looks at her file. "Forensic countermeasure, wind, hail, rain, mother nature destroys the crime scene." Casey says. "Or he wants us to think mother nature actually committed the murder." Emily adds and Casey shrugs at the possibility.

          "What concerns me is the brief period between kills." Hotch says. "Only a week. He's moving fast." Rossi added. "We need to move faster. Garcia, get me IDs on all the victims." Hotch says, looking at the woman and she nods, "I'm a gale-force wind."

          "Wheels up in 30."

          "Oh, and pack for foul weather. The forecast is nasty." Garcia says. "We've taken cases in worse weather, how bad can it be?" Casey questions as she takes the file and her bag and leaves.

           To say that the weather was terrible, was an understatement. Casey was wrong, the weather was as bad as it could be. Probably even worse. As they flew up in the sky, Casey remembered the fear of planes she had when was younger. Especially ones that had turbulence — which was what this jet ride consisted of. Casey was buckled in next to Reid and white-knuckling her seat.

          "Central Plains," JJ says. "Right in the middle of tornado alley." Reid adds on, "If this unsub is using tornadoes as a forensic countermeasure, then Kansas certainly is the ideal setting. Tornadoes do pose a significant threat. During this year's super outbreak back in April, there were 336 confirmed tornadoes in just several days, resulting in over 300 lives lost." Reid explained.

           Casey closed her eyes as she listened to Reid's voice and kept a hold of her seat on the jet. Listening to his voice was actually a comfort since her anxiety levels were rising pretty high due to the turbulence.

          Garcia's video screen popped up, revealing another comfort to Casey once she opened her eyes. "Hey, tell us something good, mama." Morgan says. "Okay, so local PD have ID'd your victim. I'm putting this all on your tablets if you'd like to follow along. First up is Jason Meredith, 16-year-old runaway from Garden City, Kansas. Mom said he took off over a year ago. Next up is Eric Janelle, 15-year-old foster kid from Wichita. He's been gone 3 weeks. Oh, both of these kids have records for possession and prostitution." Garcia explained.

          "They were street hustlers." Emily says. "At-risk kids. This could be a sexual predator." Hotch suggests. "An extremely violent one if the unsub is responsible for the damage done to the bodies, especially those missing limbs." Morgan says. "Well, now, he could be keeping the body parts for some sort of fetish." Casey shrugs.

         "Oh, okay, eew. That is my cue. I'm here if you need me with my binary machines that don't say gross things." Garcia leaves and the turbulence continues to get worse. As Reid buckles himself up, he sees a nervous Rossi and he silently prays to himself.

        "I didn't know you were a bad flyer." Reid points out. "I'm not," Rossi says. "I just hate turbulence. If anything, you should look at your friend over there white-knuckling her seat next to you." Reid took a look over at Casey, who was refusing to even open her eyes.

         "Next time we fly in turbulence, remind me to get a Xanax to calm myself down from the thoughts of death in my head." Casey speaks.

         "You know, turbulence very rarely causes planes to crash." Reid says. "That does me absolutely no good at the moment. Thank you." Rossi says.

         "Easy for you to say, Doctor Smartie, have you seen Final Destination? I'm guessing you haven't." Casey added.

          "What we really need to worry about are microbursts, sudden downbursts of air associated with thunderstorms. But a small craft like this, if we hit one of those at the wrong altitude-- pulverized." Rossi and Casey give Reid a crazy look.

          Casey gave him a look before asking: "Now, why would you say that when we're about a million feet in the air?!" She questioned. "I beg of you to make him stop." Rossi says and Casey just prays that the ride will be over soon.

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Luckily, the team survived their turbulence ride and were separated. Hotch ordered Rossi, Reid and Casey to go down to the ME to check out the bodies. "Every slab in the house is full." The man in the morgue handed a bag to Casey as he opened the door. "Could you hold that?"

Casey took the bag as he opened the doors to the morgue. "We have two weeks over. Can't apologize enough for the delay. Four years of med school, most of the time it's old folks, heart attacks, and strokes. Now, I'm from New York. Not a whole lot of action out here in Wichita. Your guys are right here." The man reveals the bodies that were discovered and Casey gives the man back his lunch.

"Identical blows to the head." Rossi points out. "Well, that's what tipped me off, not to mention they're both John Does. Kids this age get claimed fast." The man told. "They had alcohol and dextromethorphan in their systems?" Reid asks, reading off from the paper. "It's cough medicine." Rossi says. "Yeah. You see it with a lot of kids. It's a cheap high, free if you can steal it. And these two had a whole lot of it on board." The man explained.

"What were you able to determine from all the damage to the bodies?" Casey asked. "Well, it's mostly consistent with tornado casualties I've seen before. Lacerations, abrasions, massive internal trauma." The man told as he bit into his sandwich. "Mostly?" Rossi asked.

"Well, their limbs. Those are chopped off. I'm guessing with an axe or a cleaver." The man told. "Yeah, a dull one by the looks of the tissue damage at the stumps." Rossi adds. "Cut off postmortem." Casey pointed out. "Oh, definitely, but only minutes after they were killed." The man says.

"You see the discoloration? The decomposition begins almost as soon as the blood supply stops." Rossi looks down at the bodies. "They both have ligature marks on their wrists and ankles, at least what they have left of them."

"Good eye," The man tells. "Those are all actually antemortem." Casey looks down. "They're from restraints. He held them before they were killed. Was there any sign of sexual assault?" Casey questioned. "Inconclusive," says the man. "All the damage made it impossible to tell."

"So, he gets them drunk and high, he restrains them, kills them, and cleaves off a limb as a souvenir. Then he dumps the body and lets the storm clean up his mess." Rossi pieces together. "But why the souvenir? What or who, exactly, is he trying to remember?" Reid questioned.

"Guess that's our main question, right?" Casey figures. "What's he trying to do here?"

A day later, another body had been discovered. Another teenager and his limbs were found sprawled out in a circle.
"Never seen anything like it." The main detective, Lieutenant Beasley, spoke as he walked towards the body.
"Name's Gary Dyson. 16. Runaway from Kansas City. A couple of my guys have seen him before. ID'd him off the tattoos on what's left of his arms."

"This particular area get hit with a tornado last night?" Rossi asks. "Thunderstorms came through. Warnings went out, but no twisters." Beasley spoke. "The weather's gotta be the trigger." Hotch assumes. "He's following the patterns. We track the storms, we find the unsub."

"Forensic evidence has been washed away." Hotch says as he kneels down next to Casey. "Looks almost satanic, how he places the limbs in a circle. Are we looking at a cult leader or member?" Casey asks. "There was no evidence like this at the other crime scenes." Hotch tells, shaking his head.

"But behaviorally, it's the most intact crime scene we've encountered so far." Reid says. "It's the same blow to the head, but no cuts, no abrasions." Rossi says. "Except he's missing his torso." Hotch adds.

"It was only a matter of time before he missed one. Tornadoes are extremely unpredictable and sometimes last only a matter of minutes before they dissipate. The fact that he was able to leave his previous victims directly in the path of one is astounding." Reid explains.

"So the conditions were perfect last night, but his tornado never came." Casey figures. "It's only been four days. He's accelerating. And the weather's driving him to do it." Hotch says.

"Guys, we know that fetishists are loyal to the body parts they take, but I think that this unsub is loyal to the whole of these parts. If you were to take the missing pieces from all the victim so far, you could almost assemble an entire body." Reid concludes and Casey nods, "So he's not taking bodies apart—" Reid finished, "—he's putting one together."

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The team had delivered their profile and Hotch and Casey had watched as JJ walked off with her phone in her hand. Casey had assumed of a family emergency. She watched as Hotch walked out to check on her and momentarily, Casey decided to check in as well.

She walked through the hall and spotted JJ and Hotch. "Hey, everything okay?" Casey asks. "Yeah, family emergency at home. Henry had a seizure." Casey's eyes widen at the news of her godson having a seizure and she approaches JJ closer. "A seizure? Is he okay?" JJ nodded, "Yes, he's fine. Apparently, it's totally normal. I need to get back home, though." JJ explains to both Hotch and Casey.

"Of course," Hotch understands, being a father himself. "Anything I can do?" He asks. "Can I borrow the jet?" JJ asks. "I think the budget oversight committee might not appreciate my generosity." Hotch explains. JJ sighs, "Yeah, well, worth a shot, right?"

"Check in and let us know everything's alright." Hotch tells. JJ nods and Casey opens her arms to give JJ a hug. "Everything's going to be okay. Henry's fine, you know this. He's in good hands." Casey assured and JJ accepts the hug. "Oh, you have no idea how much I needed that." She tells. With that, she pulls away and walks off.

"Hey, Hotch, Willows." The two hear Reid's voice as he walks towards them and they turn to him. "I've been thinking-- the vast majority of unsubs with this type of MO, aren't driven by the killing. They're really fascinated by the body parts. Psychologically they exist in a realm where fantasy meets delusion. It's basically the perfect blueprint for the creation of a serial kill—" Reid sees the looks on Casey's and Hotch's faces.

"I'm rambling, aren't I?" He asks.
"Yes." "Lil' bit."

Reid shrugs, "Should probably get to the point. I think I know how this unsub may have gotten started."

Hotch and Casey walk back into the office as Reid draws on the clear board in front of him. "All right, the first victim was found missing his right leg, the second, both arms, and the third had no torso. So that leaves the left leg and the head unaccounted for. We can assume the head would be the most difficult piece to find." Reid explains.

"That part would have to fit an unsub's fantasy perfectly." Rossi says. "So he'd most likely save it for last. Now, what that tells us is there's a victim out there we haven't found yet who's missing his left leg." Reid informs. "Or the unsub hasn't acquired it yet." Morgan thinks. "True, but most body part collectors evolve to this level, and in many cases they exhumes bodies for parts before they start killing." Reid said.

"All right, let me call Garcia." Morgan says, picking up the phone. "So you think our unsub did the same thing." Emily says and Reid nods. "P.G. at your service, don't let the name fool you." Garcia spoke.

"Baby girl, you're on speaker." Morgan spoke. "Garcia, can you look for grave robberies in tornado alley over the last five years?" Reid asks. "Okey-dokey. Searching. Oh. That's a shockingly big list. Who knew grave-robbing was so on trend?"

"How many of those involve the bodies of teenage boys?" Casey asks. "Uh... none." Garcia tells. "What about morgues and funeral homes?" Emily asks. "Momentito... again, that is a list that should not be that big. Mostly stolen embalming fluid, though."

"It's often used like PCP, Garcia." Morgan says. "I'm feeling optimistic about the youth of America. There are no teenagers involved in this either." Garcia tells.

"All right, try looking for thefts involving body parts, specifically left legs." Reid tells and Garcia exclaims: "Okay, eew! See, this is why I can't talk about how my day was at dinner. Breakfast, lunch." There's a pause. "Spencer, you scare me."

"Join the club." Rossi added and Reid gave him an odd look and Casey shrugged in agreement, giving Reid a sort of apologetic look but Rossi was right — sometimes, he did scare the team with his knowledge.

"A left leg was stolen off a body a year ago at the Riggio Funeral Home in Tulsa. They never found who did it." Garcia says. "Garcia, what was the weather like in the area at the time?" Hotch questions.

"Uh, thunderstorms and tornadoes. An F2 cyclone hit right around there, and then the robbery took place after they evacuated." Garcia explained. "It's gotta be our unsub." Casey said.

"Wait, there's more. The guy whose leg was stolen, he was a 47-year-old father of two who died of leukemia." Garcia informed. "That's a huge jump," Rossi spoke. "Preferential child sex offenders don't usually stray from their preferred age range."

"It's not about the sex at all," Hotch said. "He used the body from the funeral home to develop his MO so he could live out his fantasy and kill in a storm."

"It still doesn't explain what or who he's building." Emily tells. "Whatever it is, this unsub won't stop until he finds a perfect head. That's the final piece to his puzzle." Reid stated and Casey looked at the drawing on the board - he barely had any bodies left and someone else had to have been next.

Hours had passed and Casey had noticed that JJ was still in the building. "Hey, thought you were out of here." Morgan asked. "Ohh, flights are canceled 'cause of the weather." JJ tells. "How's Henry?" Emily asked. "He's headed home. Finally released him." JJ told. "That's great news." Rossi says as both he and Emily put their coats on.

"Where are you guys off to?" JJ asked. "To the university to talk to some storm chasers." Emily says. "Stay dry." JJ advises and Rossi sighs, "Yeah, right." With that, Emily and Rossi leave, leaving the rest of the team and they notice a family walking in.

"Who's that with Hotch?" JJ asked. "There's been another abduction. A boy named Shaun Rutledge. That's his younger brother, Billy." Reid informs. "He says a young white guy in an RV attacked him with a crowbar in the rain." Morgan says. "He also changed his victim selection criteria. The boy he grabbed gets straight As, plays football, even volunteers at his church. He's like a golden boy." Casey stated.

"So he wanted him so badly, he was willing to leave a witness?" JJ asks. "Which suggests he's losing touch with reality and his delusions are starting to take over." Reid adds. "What is it about this kid that was so attractive to him?" Morgan questions. "He was teenage and Caucasian like the others, right?" JJ asks. "We also think that a sexual element may actually not be at play." Casey tells. "So then what the hell is driving this guy?" Morgan asks.

"Maybe it's love." JJ assumes. "What if he's trying to recreate someone he loves?" Morgan begins to run with JJ's idea. "It is an emotion that drives us to extremes." Casey thinks as well. "If he's trying to recreate someone, it's probably somebody he loved and lost."

"Wait. You said he was with his big brother, right?" JJ asks and the three nod and come up with their solution.

They call Garcia up and even when the power's off, they find out the story with their unsub and who their unsub is. Travis James. His description matched what the little boy gave. In 2001, Travis lost his big brother, Tucker and his mom, Jan when a tornado hit the McCleary Trailer Park in Enid, Oklahoma. Before the tornado hit, Travis, along with 5 other boys, testified against a Roscoe Gulch, who was a notorious pedophile in the area, and he was a resident of the same trailer park as Travis and his family. His higher, Tucker, had confronted this Gulch person lots of times. Right after Gulch was acquitted, Travis and his brother went to Gulch's mobile home. There was fight and then tornado siren and Travis then ran to a drainage pipe nearby. After that, Tucker and Gulch somehow got trapped in the mobile home when the twister hit. Travis said he saw the mobile home get swallowed up by the tornado. And when he came out there was nothing left.

"Garcia, how old was Tucker when he was killed?" Hotch asked once Garcia was done with the story. "Seventeen," Garcia answered. "He was found in pieces. It took his DNA and dental records to ID him. Travis went into foster care and he was reported missing in 2003."

"He ran away." JJ says. "Ten years ago, his brother got ripped apart, and now he's trying to put him back together? But why start killing now?" Morgan asked. "Garcia, send me current weather reports for the area, including radar images if you have them." Hotch asked.

"Ask and you shall receive. It is on your tablets." Garcia tells. "With the weather in the area, he's going to be so excited, he won't wait. He'll take the boy to the closest area with the most activity." Hotch says. "That's right around here, just southeast of us."

"It's Frankenstein." Reid spoke and Casey turned around and noticed that Reid had been looking outside of the window. "What?" She asks.

"The unsub isn't just trying to put his brother back together, he's trying to bring him back from the dead." Casey and Morgan exchange a look as Reid speaks. "I'm not following." Casey said. "He believes that tornadoes have the power to take life, so conversely, they should have the power to restore it."

"We'll pick up Rossi and Prentiss on the way. Let's go." Hotch decides and the team heads out.

Casey joins Morgan, Reid and JJ and the tablet screens froze with trying to find a strong storm that the unsub would go to and Garcia had discovered two, meaning they had to split up. Morgan, JJ, Reid and Casey decided to split off on Meadowlark Road.

Reid found the unsub with the kid that was missing and immediately got out of the vehicle and held their guns up to the man. "Travis James, FBI! Put the weapon down!"

"You get back!" Travis yelled.

"We can't do that, Travis." Morgan shouts.

"I said get back! Are you hard of hearing or something?"

"Just let Shaun go and we can work this out." Casey tries.

"That's his name, you know. He has a little brother, too. We know you saw them when you attacked them." JJ yells.

"Just go! Get out of here, please!"

"Travis, Tucker would not want this. He would want to protect you like he did with Roscoe Gulch." Reid tried.

"That bastard was guilty!"
"Just let him go and we can help you."
"We don't need your help!"

Casey's eyes widen as a tornado had been swirling towards them, ready to swallow them up. "I'm telling you, we need to get to cover now!" Beasley yelled, since he had followed behind the team.

"Come on, man, put the weapon down! Put it down!" Morgan yelled. The man had dropped his weapon and grabbed a body wrapped in plastic. JJ and Morgan had gotten the teenager and Beasley opened a shed for their safety.

Casey tried to approach closer to the man, who was walking away. "Travis! Travis!" She yelled. "Casey, come on! Let's go!" JJ shouted. "Ace, come on!" Morgan shouted.

Casey pulled her gun out and tried to shoot at the man but she couldn't see a thing with the wind blowing into her eyes. Before she could take another shot, arms wrapped around her waist and hoisted her up and Casey had noticed that it was Reid that had dragged her towards the shed. They had successfully made their way to safety and listened as the storm passed. And it did, their unsub had been engulfed by the tornado and they were safe.

hey, lovelies!
haven't updated due to finals
but i'm on summer break now so yay
also
i have football practice literally everyday again but still expect more updates bc hopefully i still stick around lol
also
fuck netflix for deciding to take criminal minds off on june 29th- like literally wtf i'm so mad abt that
butttt fret not
i'll use illegal websites if i have to
if someone is willing to spare their paramount+ they'd really be saving my life here😁🙏
anywaysss
original chapter up next!
-mya </3