Piece of Mind (Criminal Minds FF)

3. Dèjá Vu

The Detective

"What are these?" I ask, pointing to a blurry image on the side of the bodies on each photo. Prentiss hands me a few close-ups of the images.

"These were left at each site. They're messages of some sort." I look at them.

"A painting of a clown with black ink running down it, the word 'GREEN' written out of sticks with an X across it, and the heart of the third victim covered in gold glitter," Reid says without looking. I shoot him a glare, but then look back at the photos.

"And these words on the stomach?" I ask. "Don't, I'm, and Me?" JJ nods. I frown and shake my head at the pictures.

"What's wrong?" Morgan asks.

"I recognize these," I mutter, throwing the pictures of the messages and the close-ups of the words.

"You what?" Boss-Man entreats.

"I recognize these. It's some sort of dèjá vu," I say, looking at him. "Very annoying Déjà vu, but déjà vu all the same."

He raises an eyebrow at me.

"Is it worth mentioning that I didn't kill theses kids," I ask, "because you're looking at me like I did, Boss-Man."

Morgan snorts.

"Boss-Man?" he asks with a chuckle.

"Well, it's not like these two have told me their names," I reply, gesturing to the boss and the older man sitting at his side.

"I'm David Rossi, and this is Aaron Hotchner," the older man says, and I look at him in surprise.

"David Rossi? The author?" I ask and he nods. "Well, I lobe your books. Very well written."

He nods in thanks, and I turn back to the photos, getting my mind back on track.

"You said you recognized these?" Hotchner inquires, and I nod again.

"It's like I've seen them briefly. I just can't remember where."

"Must not have been important enough," Spencer mutters, and I roll my eyes.

"At the time, it must not have been," I respond.

"What? Not important enough? What are you talking about?" JJ asks.

"She has a-"

"I can answer for myself, thank you very much, Spencer Reid," I interrupt. "I have an eidetic memory, but when I label something as 'unimportant' or 'disturbing', I forget it."

"You can just make yourself forget?" Rossi asks with surprise.

"Not exactly. You can say I 'file it away'. I can't really forget," I utter, "but it's going to take a while to try and unfile this memory."

I look down at the pictures.

"I just need to think," I say, exasperated with myself.

"So you have an eidetic memory? Like Reid?" JJ asks, and I nod.

"Yes, I learned to file stuff away when I got tired of memories of being bullied," I reply, ignoring the sympathetic looks.

"So you said the cool down period was getting shorter?" I change the subject.

"The UnSub is deteriorating," Rossi replies.

"We have the profile," Hotch adds, and I look up at him. "We are looking for a white male possibly in his late thirties or early forties. Probably has a job around children, but is extremely antisocial."