dangerously ↝ a. hotchner

n i n e

A week after Aaron had received the case files from Strauss, another body was found and the team had officially been invited to work on the case.

They arrived at LA in one piece, Hotch giving orders to the team and them splitting up to follow them. The latest body was found on a park bench, exactly like the two before that and exactly like the ones in the eighties. Hotch and Reid stared down at it, silently taking in the crime scene and focusing on anything they thought was suspicious.

"The embalming fluid appears to be a more recent one, but other than that, the original killings and this one are nearly identical."

"Reid? Nearly identical?" Hotch questioned.

"Oh yeah, the original Mummifier's victims were all women in their early forties. This victim can't be more than her mid thirties." Reid pointed out, both of them glancing back at the mummified victim as he spoke.

Hotch nodded, "Do you think it correlates with their age? The unsub from the eighties was profiled as being in his forties. It was his preference. His victimology."

Reid nodded. "The new unsub has his own victimology. Who knows what else he may be doing different?"

"Let's head to the station and catch up the team." Hotch walked away from the scene, Reid following closely after him.

"You know, you could at least tell me when you're leaving." Reid muttered as he caught up with Hotch at the car.

Hotch smirked, "Where's the fun in that?"

Reid muttered something about how he didn't know how Hotch moved that fast, but Aaron ignored him, instead focusing on the road as he drove the two of them back to the station.

"We think the unsub is in his mid to late thirties." Reid said as Hotch and him walked inside the conference room the lead detective had let them set up in and use.

"There were many aspects of the original cases that were left out of the media. The possibility of it being law enforcement is slim due to the nature of the crime; but I wouldn't want to rule it out just yet." Hotch spoke up after Reid, turning the team's full attention to him.

Morgan nodded, "Garcia is currently getting everything we can get on the victims. Rossi and Prentiss have yet to come back from speaking to the most recent victims family."

A detective knocked on the door softly, turning the whole teams attention to him. "Sorry to disturb agents, Sally Banner's parents and Octavia Polski's father is here."

"Thank you detective." Hotch said and the detective gave them a nod and left. "I'll speak with the Banner's, JJ can you go speak to Mr Polski?"

JJ nodded and left the room, heading in the direction of the extremely upset, blonde haired, middle aged man pacing near a detectives desk. They watched as she greeted him and led him into a room.

Hotch stepped out next, spotting the parents of the second victim, Sally Banner, standing warily near the conference room.

The team watched as he greeted them and he too led them to a secondary room, ensuring that their discussion was private for the time being. "You notice something different about Hotch?" Morgan asked as he shuffled some papers around, trying to clear up some space for the pictures and files Garcia was sending them.

Rossi grinned, having expected the team to pick up on his friends different behavior sooner or later. "I wonder what changes a man." He grinned, ignoring the teams confused looks as he focused on the case.

Eventually they got back to solving the mystery that is their case.

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