Dear Spencer Reid | 1

15. search party

T.W: possible mention/description of assault, as well as suicide. Do not feel obligated to continue this chapter if you are uncomfortable with such topics.

Everything had gone black.

—
You woke up outside, and the sun seemed to have just risen. The grass was damp underneath you, and the crisp breeze tickled the bare skin of your face.

You couldn't move very well, but you could look around and lift your head a little. The only thing that surrounded you were trees.

You were too afraid to ask if anyone was there. Fear settled within you, and you could feel your heart pounding against your chest. You began shaking as you silently cried, desperately trying to lift your limbs. Nothing was working. Whoever took you left you to die in the middle of the forest, and you didn't even know if you were hurt. You couldn't feel anything.

You eventually drifted back to sleep, not having enough energy to keep your eyes open.

—
MEANWHILE, AT THE BAU

Reid burst into the conference room, interrupting the team's previous conversation. "Y/n is missing."

He had approached your apartment at 12, like he said he would, only to find that the door was open, and you were gone. Your phone and keys were in the places you had set them when you got home, and all of your shoes were still there.

Spencer slept at your apartment hoping you would somehow come back, but you didn't.

He texted a '9-1-1' to everyone on the team early in the morning, making it obvious that he needed to speak with them.

"What do you mean missing? Is she not picking up her phone or something?" Hotch questioned.

Spencer shook his head and held up your phone in his hand.

"Her phone, her keys, her shoes. Everything was in her apartment. The door was wide open when I got there." He took a breath, and clutched the back of the chair. "What if-what if the unsub has hurt her? How long do we have to find him? We need to find her."

Derek stood from his chair, and put his hands on Spencer's shoulders, turning Spencer's body towards his. "Hey.. Hey.. Reid, it's going to be okay. We'll find y/n."

"Where do we even start? How are we supposed to find the unsub when we're all just sitting here wasting every second of y/n's life?" Spencer stuttered, running a hand through his hair.

"Spence, sit down. We need to talk about why the killer is taking theses specific women, including y/n." Emily spoke up, waiting until Spencer hesitantly sat down to continue. Derek left the room to talk to Penelope in her office.

"All of them have similar features, the hair, the eyes, the skin tone. It must be related to someone the killer has lost. This female, whether it was a sibling or partner, left him, and he's mimicking what he has wanted to do to this woman. I believe this woman is dead now, not by his own doing."

"So she killed herself?" Spencer spoke softly.

"Yes, though we originally believed she got into an accident. It wouldn't make sense for the unsub to relive the death of a victim of the accident. The unsub is projecting the guilt and anger of his sudden loss onto these women that look similar to who he has lost."

Derek walked back into the room with a folder. "I just had Garcia look up recent tragedies such as suicides, car crashes, hit and runs, etc. We found a woman's name- Lilith Waters. She took her life only maybe a month or two ago, her note that she left was addressed to her boyfriend.. Well.. Ex boyfriend. She drowned herself in a freezing lake."