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『ᴀɴɢᴇʟ ᴘᴏᴠ』

There's been a recurring dream that's been haunting me like a ghost for over ten years. No matter where I am, it always follows. It follows and trembles in my mind as it makes me hear things that aren't really there, makes my skin crawl and leaves my body drained as though life had been sucked out of me. It felt like the uncomfortable feeling you get in your mouth after you wake up, then it stings in the back of your throat as you try to peel the feeling away with your first drink of the day,

Doctors and therapists have said it is the PTSD revealing itself, since pushing it away stopped helping. Every repressed memory, trauma and event had started to come out, breaking out of the cracks of the trunk I tucked it away in, far in my mind. I had been asked by my old therapist to stop repressing and let it all come out as it could cause me bigger issues such as memory loss.

The small jet that had been provided to the BAU team doesn't help with this recurring nightmare. The air vents that curlate the jet send out an almost white noise sound that is so indescribably similar to the hospital white noise. The same hospital white noise that I woke up to way too early.

"Ok," JJ announced, snapping me out of my thoughts immediately, "Franklin Park, des plaines, yesterday afternoon," She hands everyone a file, crime scene pictures peeking through the edges, "3 victims shot at distance...it's the third such shooting in 2 weeks." She took a breath as everyone started listing through the papers.

"Oh god," Elle sighed once she had a quick look over, "A sniper?" She threw the question out after a few moments of silence, the whole team looked at her with a tilted head which sent her into a confused look.

"We don't use that word," I said, not taking my eye off the papers, "The public perception is that the FBI doesn't have an exemplary record with snipers..." I explain once the silence counts along with Elle's confused look, "Besides, a sniper is a professional marksman.," I shrugged, closing the file, "These guys aren't snipers."

"Oh," A sigh escaped her mouth as she looked up to me from the couch where she had been sitting, "What do we call 'em then?" she asked, closing the file and placing it carefully on her lap, making my eyes dart from her face to her crossed legs.

"L. D. S. K." Hotch joins in on the conversation, "Long distance serial killers." he further explains and I can see Spence nodding in the corner of my eye, as though he desperately wants to comment on the topic but doesn't want to interrupt.

"How many of these guys have we caught using a profile?" I turned to Gidoen as soon as the question escaped my mouth, "In general...over the years." I clarified a little as he took a sip out of his dark blue cup.

"None." he shrugged simply, placing the cup and returning eye contact with me.

"Well isn't that comforting," I sigh, "So...2 weeks, 3 sh**ting incidents, 6 victims, all shot in the abdomen," I go over the facts that I had just read, "First and only fatality, Henry Sachs, married, father of 3, was shot in a shopping center parking lot." I flip the file over to have the victim's name correctly.

"Then 9 days later, Doug Miller and Kevin Parks were playing basketball at a community center," Spence continued my thought, picking up exactly where I left off, "Franklin park, 4 days later, Jerry Middleton, Kate Murray, and Tim Reilly..." He looked to Hotch for some further explanation.

"The Des plaines police have found no link between any of the victims," Hotch nodded to both of us, "Which is unusual but...for these killers we don't know too much unfortunately." He leaned back in his seat slightly.

"We just have to do this case like all the others," I comment and the team nods, "Put aside that we haven't profiled one of these before," I sigh as I realize how difficult this case can get, "Ballistics?" I ask, trying to piece this together.

"He's using frangible rounds, which fragment on impact, making ballistics comparisons impossible," Spence comments, which just makes me sink into my seat even more, "The good news is that all the park victims are gonna make it." He adds to light the mood a little.

"The bad news is that none of them saw anything," Morgan finally comments on something, "Which isn't helpful at all." The whole team takes a sip of our coffees and teas quickly during a moment of silence.

"However, one of the patients does have an intact bullet lodged in his spine..." Hotch reread one of the papers in his hand, "What's the prognosis?" He looks to me and Spence immediately, seeing who would say it first.

"Well usually, there's a disagreement among surgical staff as to whether they can remove the slug without paralyzing the patient..." I speak cautiously first from the little knowledge of spinal surgery I know, "Well, without a useful witness or a solid piece of forensic evidence..." I say after Hotch gives me a node of approval.

"The profile's all we'll have." Gideon sighs, "L. D. S. K. S are so rare, we haven't been able to build a standard profile..." He sits down on the couch across from me, "What do we know about them?" He looks at me.

"What is this, a pop quiz?" I joke while he smirks but nods in the end, "They're always male, and they frequently have law enforcement or military experience, and they always contact the police or the media...." I try to remember what he had told me about them a few years ago.

"To take credit or relive the experience?" Elle asks, her hands balancing her head on her knees as she watches me explain L.D.S.K.S to the team, "Or...both?" She quickly says before I answer the question.

"Both." Me and Spence say it at the same time, resulting in us looking at each other and immediately looking away. Looking at him after saying the same thing always makes me unnecessarily nervous, sending goosebumps up my arms.

"All serial killers attempt to relive the ecstasy they get from their killings," I said, rubbing my hands till the little bumps go away, "Some use souvenirs taken from the victims, and others return to the dump site to interact with the body." Elle nodded along.

"Both modes require contact with the victim, contact which, by definition, long distance serial killers don't have," Hotch led on from my statement, "The beltway shooting left a tarot card at one of their crime scenes..." he crossed his arms across his black suit, crinkling his red and white tie under the weight of his arms, "Later they called a tip hotline, which ultimately led to their capture."

"But our unsub hasn't contacted anybody?" Derek threw out the question, pushing his back father into her leather seat as he left the whole room in a moment of silent thinking.

"He will..." I made the statement, receiving a nod from Gideon as he stared down to the ground, "Until he does, what do we have?" I move the conversion back to the current case, as time moves so does the Unsub.

The team has moments of pure silence, it's never awkward nor is it haunting. Even though no one makes a sound, we all subconsciously can hear each other thinking. Everyone has their own thoughts, opinions and ideas on different cases, which proves extremely helpful since we can get different perspectives.

"Sometimes it's not what the unsub does that reveals the profile..." Gideon breaks the silence, "Sometimes it is what they do not do." He looks up from the floor to Hotch then darts his eyes to me, waiting for some sort of comment.

"Well," I clear my throat, fixing my posture," He doesn't kill his victims..." Thoughts running through my mind as try to find that unique perspective, "Under-kill's a unique signature on it own, we don't see it too often."

The team nods, giving me the validation that I had said something helpful. I normally don't overthink my comments, knowing that they're helpful but being in a space with a group of people that think the same as me, some even smarter, can be intimidating.

"The question is," Hotch grabs the file on the small pull out table in front of him, "Does he shot them in the stomach intentionally just to wound them," He pauses, trying to tell if we are catching on, "Or is he just aiming at the biggest part of the target?"