"With foxes, we must play the fox."
—Doctor Thomas Fuller

The very first thing she saw when she got into the bullpen that morning was Hotch and his wife, Hayley, with their newborn son, and she immediately felt her jaw drop at the cuteness. She scurried over to them awkwardly as JJ, Garcia and Spencer joined them, her bag slung awkwardly up onto her shoulder while she tried to keep her travel mug of coffee level in her grasp.

"Morning," she chirped, sleepily rubbing her eyes with the smallest of yawns escaping her lips. "Is this the new child?"

Hotch sighed exasperatedly at her, though he was smiling, and JJ lightly swatted her arm. "Yes, this is the new child," he chuckled softly.

"He's so gorgeous," JJ awed softly, her lips forming a small adoring pout.

Hayley smiled pridefully. "Thank you."

"He's pretty cute," Jodi agreed with a growing grin as she took a swig from her cup.

Brows furrowing, Spencer wrinkled his nose. "If you find baldness and wrinkles attractive," he mumbled uncomfortably.

But Garcia just lightly smacked his chest. "Look at his little witty bitty nose," she cooed, mouth open. Jodi glanced behind her as Morgan appeared, and Garcia took that chance too. "Don't you want one of these?"

He glanced at the baby in Hotch's arms. "Mm. I'll stick to practising," he grinned and sauntered away, leaving the rest of them to shake their heads and snicker.

"Congratulations," Elle's voice rang from behind them, and she turned her head to look at her with a smile.

"Thanks," Hotch beamed happily. "She's amazing, I'm...a little terrified."

"Well, uh, we should get going," Hayley smiled tiredly, taking the baby into her own arms so she could get him settled into the stroller.

They all said their goodbyes.

"Come on, kiddo," Morgan's voice snickered as he reappeared, hooking an arm around her shoulders and tugging her along with . "Up to the briefing room we go."

Through her sip of coffee, Jodi groaned. "Seriously? At 8 in the morning? Do these guys not sleep?"

Sighing, JJ just reached over and patted her shoulder and guided her up to the briefing room with an arm around her shoulders, going patiently for her on the stairs. "Apparently not...but this one's a home case, so we won't be flying anywhere."

Once in the briefing room, Jodi made herself comfortable in the seat beside Spencer like she did at the start of each case while Morgan left for the kitchen to go get coffee. Gideon was staring at the grisly crime scene photos of a murdered family when she walked in, and quickly turned to look at him.

"Crawford family," he announced monotonously. "Murdered 3 days ago."

"Saw it on the news," Morgan hummed as he wandered back in.

Jodi glanced at him weirdly. "I didn't."

Immediately, his brows raised up and he smirked. "Oh? What were you doing then?"

She scoffed at him. "Watching Lord of the Rings and sleeping, duh."

Out of the corner of her eye she could see JJ smile at the two of them, shaking her head slightly like a mildly exasperated middle sibling. She discreetly stuck her tongue out at her, but quickly put it back in her mouth when Gideon turned around.

"They were found in the basement of their house," he continued on as if they hadn't even spoken.

"Bags packed for a vacation they never took," JJ hummed sadly.

Morgan raised his brows slightly. "Report said it was a murder/suicide. Father stabbed the mom, then shot himself."

"That's the conclusion Maryland State police came to," JJ corrected him. "The gun was found next to the father. Had gunpowder residue on his right hand."

"And now you must have some compelling reason to think that Chris Crawford didn't off his family? Morgan hummed.

"Yeah," JJ sighed, pulling out another photograph from her file. "Another murdered family." She set it down on the table, and Jodi glanced over it quickly. A light skinned woman married to a white man with two light skinned children, a boy and a girl. "The Millers-found a month ago. The mother Reese Miller, her 2 children, and her new husband." She sighed and sat down on the other side of Spencer. "Again, they were found in the basement and like the Crawford's, their suitcases were packed for a vacation."

"Both cases, the bodies were discovered 5 days after their vacations were supposed to have started," Gideon read aloud, glancing up from over his glasses that were so far down his nose they looked like they'd fall right off.

"Yet the coroner determined that they had been dead only 24 hours," JJ confirmed.

Jodi couldn't help but frown as several thoughts raced through her head; what could've kept them in the house for four days?

"So for 4 days, both families remained in the house," Spencer repeated slowly, his brows furrowing slightly as he became somewhat lost in his head.

"Location of the bodies, both cases, the basement," Gideon hummed with a sigh. "That indicates a level of organisation."

"Disorganised overpowering force, though," Jodi hummed softly, gesturing over to the crime scene photos as Morgan nodded twice in firm agreement.

"If these aren't murder/suicides someone's doing a damn good job of making them look like it," Spencer commented, his brows rising as he glanced over one of the photos from the table.

"Possibly this man," JJ agreed. "Eric Miller. Biological father of the Miller children." She handed out the dark-skinned man's mugshot. "Arlington P. D. Issued a bolo for Miller after the bodies were discovered."

"Ex-wife Reese Miller had a restraining order against him for domestic violence," Gideon commented after scanning over his file again.

"When did she get remarried?" Morgan asked curiously, and JJ sighed.

"The week before they were killed."

Collectively, the five of them exhaled out a sigh and Jodi glanced down at the photos of the dead children. Her gust twisted, and she pursed her lips into a thin line to keep them from trembling. Out of the four children, the oldest one looked to be around ten years old; none of them even had the chance to grow and experience the world the way they should've, and it broke her heart.

"Violent husbands believe their wives and children are property," Morgan continued, pulling her out of her thoughts. "Reese Miller getting re-married possibly made him snap."

"Well," JJ sighed tiredly. "The Virginia cops finally located Eric Miller last night responding to a drunken disturbance at a motel where Miller had been hiding out. When they found him they discovered blood on his black leather jacket. Belonged to his children."

Jodi inhaled sharply, but kept herself composed because she couldn't afford to allow this case to get to her; none of them could.

"Was any of his DNA found at the Crawford house?" Morgan questioned.

Gideon flipped a page in his file. "No."

Jodi watched as Spencer's brows furrowed. "Did he know the Crawford's?"

"If he does, he's not saying," JJ sighed. "In fact, he hasn't said a word since his arrest." She turned to look over at Gideon. "Uh, the Arlington PD have asked us to interview him.

"If anyone could apply overwhelming force, he's your man," Spencer commented, eyes drifting from the mugshot over to her before finally landing on Gideon.

"I want you to find out," he agreed plainly. "Talk to him."

Spencer blinked. "You want me to talk to him?"

"Yeah," Gideon shrugged. "You've done interviews before with other agents running point. You can go solo. McCoy, you stay and watch."

She could see Spencer's shoulders sag slightly in relief, and she couldn't help but mirror his actions. Even knowing he'd be safe in the FBI building, it was hard for her to let go of that part of her separation anxiety.

The final instruction given was Gideon telling Morgan the two of them that they'd be going to investigate the Crawford crime scene since it was still fresh, and then they went their separate ways.

They hastily moved through the building and out to the interrogation room as quickly as they could. She could tell pretty clearly that Spencer was a little uncomfortable with the whole situation, and asked calmly if he wanted her there with him, but he just shook his head.

"I'll be okay," he promised and extended his elbow out to her.

Smiling, Jodi bumped it with hers.

Then she watched him straighten himself out and walk up to the interrogation room door with slightly sweaty and shaky hands, and then walk inside. She pursed her lips into a thin line and folded her arms over her chest, and even though ever instinct she had told her to go in with him, she knew he would be okay.

"I'm Dr. Spencer Reid from the FBI," he introduced himself uncomfortably, hovering in the doorway. Even with the two guards standing in the back of the room, he was nervous. "I'd like to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind."

Eric Miller's voice was gruff and raw, and his tone was a deep rumble. "Got something you wanna ask me, boy?" He muttered irritably. "You look me in the eye, and you ask."

Uncertainly, Spencer pulled his bag over his shoulder and set it down on the floor next to the chair he sat down in. "3 days ago—"

"—You're not looking at me," he uttered evenly, staring coldly at him.

Jodi rolled her lips in and briefly sucked in her cheeks before blowing out a breath. She glanced over to her right at the sound of footsteps, and nodded once each to Hotch and Elle as they stopped beside her.

"3 days ago, the Crawford family was murdered," he announced after clearing his throat.

"Is that right?"

"Did you know them?"

A brief pause. "What are you getting at?"

She watched Spencer pull a crime scene photo out of the case file and display it on the table for Eric to see. "They were killed in the exact same way that your family was killed," Spencer explained unevenly.

Something glistened at the corner of Eric's eye, and it took her a second to realize it was a tear, though it became obvious because his voice thickened. "And? I've been slapped around all night by every cop in Virginia. What makes you think a damn photo is gonna scare me?" Blinking, Spencer averted his eyes down to the table, and flinched with Eric yanked on the handcuffs that kept him chained to the table, rattling them across the metal surface. "Is that what this is about, hmm? You think I'm crazy, man? You think I suddenly snapped and I slaughtered my own wife and kids? You think I did this? Huh? Is that what you think?" He surged up onto his feet, but the guards grabbed him before he could do anything.

With just a glance at Hotch, she pushed through the door, the two of them close behind her. "Sit down, now," Hotch instructed coldly, his tone leaving no room for argument.

But it didn't do much to calm him down. "Is this your daddy?" He sneered lowly, and she had to fight off the instinct to step between him and Spencer after just taking one look at the terrified look on his face. "I'm done talking to you people!"

But Spencer swallowed his nerves. "You don't have to talk. Just listen." He cleared his throat. "On the occasions you assaulted your wife, you were intoxicated. Once the effects of alcohol wore off you were overcome by feelings of remorse."

"I'm gonna tell you this just one time," Eric uttered warningly. "You shut your mouth!"

But Spencer was relentless, and continued on. "Genetic factors contribute to alcohol stress interactions. Your mother was an alcoholic and she was often too drunk to stop the beatings that your father gave you."

"I think we should stop this," She heard Elle mumble from slightly behind her, but she was turned down.

"He's not finished."

And he wasn't. "Age 6, you were orphaned to a family where the abuse continued only this time, it was sexual."

"You shut your mouth, or I'm gonna rip your face off."

"The abuse continued well into puberty but my one concern is," he stated firmly, looking him directly in the eye. "Eric did you or did you not continue the cycle with your own children?"

She could see him practically fuming, fighting to keep himself under control so he could make himself abundantly clear. "I never laid a hand on my children," he snarled. "You hear me?"

"I hear you," he promised softly, and she closed her eyes.

Eric opened his mouth and closed it several times before he seemed to be able to string together the right words. "I found them like that. Dead. Bloodied. My babies. My sweet, little babies..." he sunk back down into his chair, and Jodi felt her chest deflate. "I was crazy out of my mind...I didn't know what to do, and I knew the cops were gonna blame me, and they have."

He thought about it for a moment. "So you ran?" Spencer frowned.

All he got in response was a bitter smile. "So what've I got now?"

"You have your innocence," he answered gently, his brows pulling together as he thought. "For the sake of your children I believe that they, at the very least, deserve the truth."

Jodi pulled her lips to one corner and watched him pack up the case file and grab his bag off the floor where he'd put it.

"I can't get...the image of my dead children out of my mind," Eric whispered shakily, squeezing his eyes shut as the four of them paused in the doorway, mid exit. "Ty, my little boy he was clutching a...a piece of paper...I think...I think it was a drawing, m-maybe a painting. Please. I'd love to know what he painted, Dr. Reid."

Spencer didn't say anything, just left the room with pursed lips and Hotch stared the suspect down until the three of them were completely out of sight before joining them.