Say It (Hotch x Reader)// ✔

Strawberry Blond

Summary:

A conference meeting turns into a discussion with Hotch that was bound to happen

Notes:

hey all,
ya girl had midterms but i finished thats why it took so long to update sorry!

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"... and he confessed of disposing of Annabel Brown. I informed Scotland Yard." Martins concludes.

His arms are folded over the table, with an amass of papers spread before him. Being him and wanting to show dominance even in a setting like this, he sits at the head of the table, leaving both you and Hotch to sit in front of one another.

You try your best not to look at him, and he's set on listening at Martins' recounts of Reus' confessions. He's still so close that your body is warmly aware of him. An ache winds its way inside your chest too, at the sight of him.

"I had a chat with our friends from Interpol too " Martins says with a bite and you catch the smirk he shows you, "Olivier and Junie have been made aware. They have been in London since Friday."

He pushes files to both you and Hotch, and you open them right away.

"Stabbed eleven times" you read aloud. The corpse of the woman bears ligature marks on her arms, while the stab wounds are straight carvings running from her knees to her ankles – the same way he'd done to Marie Sycamore, while he was still a teen. From the M.E reports to the images of the disposal site – everything is clean and hardly out of place – as if he'd been adamant in curating the appearance for both.

"It's a rushed job" Martins states aloud. "He did this all in a frenzy – the cuts, the bruises from striking her on the back of the head. I don't see how there could be more of this. It's clearly a spur of a moment, blitz attack"

"You're wrong" you say without glancing up. "He's methodical with the murder as he is with the robberies."

Martins scoffs. "How so?"

"Restraining the victim is the first clear sign" Hotch's voice is flat and factual. "The cuts – they're punctual and exact, mirroring the ones done on Marie."

He continues flipping through the file, stopping to the photos taken of the retrieved corpse.

"The blunt attack too" you hear yourself say, "it might look like a blitz attack but I don't think it is. I believe Reus is a chameleon in any social situation, able to act and manipulate."

"So, he charmed her?" Martins asks in disbelief, "Are you saying he's a pedophile now?"

"It wouldn't be remiss" you say, but you're not entirely convinced of the latter.

"He did have a sexual relationship with Marie" Hotch says, looking up, noting your hesitation.

"No, I know Annabel is a surrogate for Marie, but there was no sign of assault from the M.E report"

"He has a history of obsession and stalking her." He adds, tilting his head to the side in thought.

You flip to the images of the girl – alive and smiling, "Yes, but Reus is charismatic – he's a leader. He recruited two teams and the first one was composed of total strangers. Then prancing around Europe and easily recruiting like-minded people? A mundane mind cannot do the same thing he's done."

"Many powerful, attractive and influential white men are offenders. Just because they are the first, doesn't automatically exclude them."

You let out a huff of air, "I'm not saying he's not only because he's able to strike up a conversation -"