Criminal Minds Series Rewrite: Season One

Poison: Part Two

You separate yourself from the men and head over to the room where Eric is. He's all bandaged up, has bruises all over his body, and one of his eyes is swollen shut. You knock on the door, and Eric's mother looks up from her son with bloodshot eyes.

"Hi, I am so sorry to bother you, but I'm Agent Y/N Y/L/N," you flash her your badge to show her you're legit. "I was wondering if you'd let me take a look at your son to see if I can understand why this happened to him."

"He hasn't woken up since he got here. Even the doctors can't get anything out of him. What makes you think you can?" she asks just a bit rudely, but you understand considering her situation.

"I don't know if you believe in this kind of thing, but I'm a psychic. That allows me to connect with people's energies and spirits and put them together to paint a picture of what happened to them. If you allow me, I'll just touch your son's hand and use his energy to show me what happened to him. If you say no, I'll get up and leave this room. It is completely up to you, but just know I am here to help."

Eric's mother really doesn't have anything to lose, and going off that logic, she just sighs and gives you a nod. She doesn't take her hand away from her son, but that doesn't matter to you. You slowly reach over and grab Eric's tiny hand and hold it in yours. You close your eyes and let his spirit tell you exactly what happened to him that night.

You're taken back to the night it happened. It's dark and there is no moonlight to light the dark path ahead of Eric and his father. Jack pulls over to the side of the road and gets out to inspect whatever caused him to pull over. You don't know all the details, just what matters. You also can't hear what anyone is saying, but you have a feeling that Jack told his son to stay in the car before disappearing into the woods next to him.

Eric is getting impatient, so he gets out of the car and presumably yells for his dad. He ventures off into the woods only to see his deranged father with a tire iron. Jack then begins hitting him with it, beating him until he's unconscious. You rewind the events to see if you can understand what made Jack do this, but then you come to the realization that you might have to get inside Jack's head if you want to understand him. Eric is only telling his side of the story, not his fathers.

You open your eyes and take back your hand, only to see Eric's mother staring at you.

"Well? What did you see?"

"Your son is going to be just fine. He's doing remarkably well," you lie.

You can't tell her that his father beat him for no reason while looking like he was high. It'll destroy her. She seems satisfied with that answer and gives you a smile, thanking you for your help. You excuse yourself and head out of the room, closing the door behind you. You know where the psych ward is without the doctor telling you where it is. You just follow the trail of utter craziness, and you see your bosses within no time.

"Well, he did do it. I saw it, and I saw the crazy in his eyes as he did it. I have to get inside Jack's head if I'm going to at least try and figure out why he did it," you say after Gideon had left the ward to join you and Hotch.

"Well, he's raw, broken, and seriously pissed off. Y/N, he's left out in the open for you, but I don't think it's a good idea if you go in there. I wouldn't."

"He didn't hurt the son to get back at the mother?" Hotch asks.

"Not consciously, no. The rage was real but understandable, and he never apologized. When he lost control, he didn't even say, 'Eric, I'm sorry'. He said, 'Eric, why'd this happen to you?'. He never even confessed to hurting the kid."

"I saw it happen. I know he did," you say.

You're walking with your bosses when Spencer, Derek, and Elle all join you to discuss what they found in their sections.