Criminal Minds Series Rewrite: Season One

The Fox: Part One

"With foxes, we must play the fox." - Dr. Thomas Fuller

Jack Hotchner is cuter than you would have imagined him to be. He's definitely got his mother's look, but you can see a hint of his dad in his eyes. He's smiling and laughing, and you can already tell he's going to be a good baby. Hayley let you hold him when she came to visit everyone at work. Hotch wanted to show Jack to his coworkers, and you're lucky enough to get to hold him.

"Look at his smile," you gush, making a silly face that causes him to laugh.

"He's so gorgeous," JJ smiles.

"Thank you," Hotch grins.

"If you find baldness and wrinkles attractive," Spencer wrinkles his nose in discontent.

"You were a baby too, Spence. I'm sure your mom thought you were the cutest baby," you point out.

"Look at his little witty bitty nose. Don't you want one of these?" Penelope asks the genius.

"Eventually," you answer for him.

"I'll stick to practicing," Derek smirks.

"Congratulations," Elle gives her input.

"Thanks. She's amazing. I'm a little terrified," Hotch says about his wife.

"Well, uh, we should get going," Hayley says.

You hand over her child gently with a smile. She takes him and places him inside the stroller. Kids are your weaknesses because they're just too pure and innocent and have no baggage whatsoever. There's no past that haunts them, so you don't get to feel the emotional weight that's on their shoulders.

"Pleasure seeing you, Mrs. Hotchner," Spencer says politely.

Hayley and Jack leave, and as soon as the elevator doors close, the atmosphere changes from lighthearted to serious. There's a pending case that screams your name, and it can't wait anymore. There's always going to be a case, and there will always be someone to save or avenge.

"How bad is it?" Hotch asks as he turns on his serious mode.

"The worst," Elle sighs.

Everyone that's gathered by the elevator quickly makes their way to the briefing room so that JJ can present the case to everyone. The sooner this happens, the sooner you'll be on a plane—or car if it's within reasonable driving distance.

As soon as you get into the briefing room, you see the crime scene pictures on the screen. Flashes of blood and screams could be seen and heard, but they were gone a second later. Every time you see crime scene photos, you get flashes like the ones you just got. Usually, it's of the murder itself, but you can never be too sure.

The family that's on bulletin board are brutally murdered. A family of four, two parents and two children. Kids are precious beings, and seeing them in such a state makes you sad. It's unfortunate that this is normal for you.

"These are the Crawford family. Murdered 3 days ago," Gideon starts.

"Wait, I saw this on the news. They were found in their basement, right?" you ask.

"Yeah, their bags were packed for a vacation they never took," JJ confirms. "The report said it was a murder/suicide. Father stabbed the mom, then shot himself. That's the conclusion Maryland State police came to. The gun was found next to the father. He 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?" Derek asks her.

"Yeah–another murdered family. The Millers were found a month ago. The mother, Reese Miller, her 2 children, and her new husband. Again, they were found in the basement, and like the Crawfords, their suitcases were packed for a vacation."