the great war, spencer reid [ 2 ]

029. the crimson king

"Then we visited the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower, and the best part of all was that on the flight back mom walked me through every moment of it." Spencer says. "I didn't have to prompt her."

"Oh, guys, that's so great." JJ says.

"The latest research shows that diets high in omega-3 fatty acids help combat dementia, which we gorged on in Paris." Spencer says. "I mean, honestly, if she hadn't been clinically diagnosed with Alzheimer's, I'd just think she was a little absentminded."

"So are you gonna keep her in the same facility?" JJ asks.

"Yeah, she really likes it there." Spencer says as Rossi walks over. "What did we miss while we were gone? Tell us about Agent Alvez."

"Uh, well, um, let's see, he bounced between different divisions before joining the fugitive taskforce." JJ says.

"Former army ranger, right?" Spencer asks.

"Covered most of Iraq's worst hellholes." Rossi says. "He's a first in, last out kind of guy."

"What does Garcia think about him?" Spencer asks.

Rossi and JJ share awkward looks.

"Going that great, huh?" Bedelia scoffs.

"She hasn't exactly... warmed up yet." JJ says.

"That's a nice way to put it." Rossi says.

+++

Spencer and Bedelia are in the round table room.

"Hey." They turn at the voice. "Luke Alvez." He informs.

"Oh, hi. I'm Dr. Spencer Reid." Spencer says.

"Bedelia Reid." She smiles, shaking his hand.

"Hey." He smiles at her. "No handshaking, right?" He asks Spencer. "Your, uh, reputation precedes you."

"So does yours. It says here that you caught our next fugitive, Daniel Cullen, 3 years ago." Spencer says, looking at the file. "During his sentencing statement he said, "I don't kill because I don't have to." He sounds like an injustice collector. How'd you finally catch him?"

"Cullen was always a suspect. We just couldn't get an I.D. so, uh, my partner went deep cover, and... we caught him in the act." Luke says. "After I heard how he broke out in May, I wanted to be the one to put him away again."

"There might be a flag on that play." Rossi says as he and JJ walk in. He hits a button on the phone. "Go ahead, Hotch, we're all here."

"The details of the Cullen case are all the same except for one." Hotch says.

"The cuts on the latest victim are shallow and show definite hesitation marks." Tara says.

"It doesn't make sense. From his first victim, Cullen inflicted as much pain as possible." JJ says.

"And prison would have made him mean. They're not nice there." Luke says.

"Brian Phillips doesn't match Cullen's previous injustice collector victimology, and the message at this time is "BAU" when we had nothing to do with his initial arrest 3 years ago." Tara says. "So, look, maybe he met someone in prison and told them all about us, but more likely--"

"This isn't Daniel Cullen." Spencer says. "It's a very sophisticated copycat."

"Agent Alvez, this isn't the case you signed up for, but your history with it will still be an asset." Hotch says.

"If someone's out there copying Cullen, it could still lead us to him, and I want in on that." Luke says.

"I need everyone to look for any other discrepancies between the copycat and Cullen. Tara's gonna interview the latest victim and see what he remembers." Hotch says before hanging up.