just before we start, someone messaged me yesterday saying that this was their favorite criminal minds fic and i swear to you i started crying. god, i love you guys, thank you so much for everything.

TWELVE ; CITY OF ANGELS.

Planes had always been an odd concept to Quinn. The metal birds in the sky could only fly if they were able to take off correctly. They had to go against the wind to ascend to new heights.

It was an odd comparison, but Quinn Carson realized that she herself was an airplane. She too would have to go against opposing forces to prove that she could soar.

Quinn sat on an arm of a chair next to Callahan, flipping through the case's file with the rest of the team. Pictures of the crime scene were binder clipped to the manila folder and details were listed in the back of the pile.

"Mad Butcher," Callahan said, glancing down at the file. "Hundred bucks we have the media to thank for that one."

"Well, it is Los Angeles, they make everything a spectacle," JJ joked, smiling at Callahan softly.

"I'm sure he's getting off on it," Callahan stated.

JJ nodded. "They always do."

"He spared the second victim of mutation, but the first and latest are covered," Morgan noted, looking up at the group. "There's no clear purpose. Maybe he's experimenting."

"Or he's trying to remove something that will identify his victims, like tattoos, birthmarks," Callahan countered.

Rossi frowned and shook his head. "It's still hard to believe that we can't identify the torso. I mean, back in the day, I get it. But now, everyone might as well have a microchip." Derek laughed to himself, shaking his head in subtle agreement.

"Cutting the first victim seems extreme. I wonder if he's linked to him somehow," JJ said, glancing to her right.

"None of the victims matched any missing person reports and were likely chosen for their anonymity. Uh, southern California is known for its transient community," Spencer spoke up.

Derek nodded. "Going after high-risk victims makes sense for this guy. There's nothing about him that's particularly unique."

"Except that he first attacked a male and then moved on to females," Rossi added.

"Which is strange, because a fantasy this advanced is usually specific to one type," Callahan pointed out.

"Well, there was no DNA left on his male victim, so it isn't overly sexual like his other victims," JJ spoke.

"So it was either a victim of opportunity or a necessity," Kate voiced.

Quinn's voice was heard for the first time. "It could have been practice. The guy had to make sure what he was doing was going to work before he could move on to his real targets."

"We shouldn't bury the killing to sell idea either," JJ said. Quinn almost smiled. JJ hadn't been the most open to her joining the team, so seeing her remembering her ideas was reassuring. The blonde's eyes met hers and JJ gave Quinn a soft nod.

"Well, three victims in a month means that's he's got something to prove," Hotch noted.

"Either to himself or the rest of us," Rossi added.

Hotch spoke after a brief moment. "Alright, when we land, Morgan and Reid go to the medical examiner. Dave and Kate go to the latest disposal site. Carson, JJ and I will get set up with Lieutenant Banks at the P.D."

"Let's hope we can get some information," Morgan said.

-----

Although Lieutenant Banks had been informed that the BAU team had an accused murderer on their team, the initial shock of seeing her was noticeable. His eyes widened and his face paled as he met eyes with Quinn, making her heart sink.

"Banks, I'm Aaron Hotchner, nice to meet you," Hotch told him, shaking his hand. Banks nodded, sending a distracted smile in the leader's direction. Hotch's eyes narrowed slightly as he saw Banks staring intently at Quinn. "This is Agent Jennifer Jareau and Quinn Carson, they will be helping you with the case." Quinn picked up the icy tone hidden in Hotch's phrase. It didn't take a human-lie-detector to understand what her boss was getting at.

The Lieutenant nodded once more, shaking hands with both women. "Feel free to set up anywhere," he told them. JJ exchanged a glance with Quinn, then guided her to an open area in the police department. Banks looked up at Hotch. "When they said that Horseman girl had joined the BAU, I hadn't realized she had actually joined your team," he said, sounding slightly flabbergasted.

Hotch's face remained expressionless, but as Banks looked up at him, he was met with a cold glare. "If you have an issue with who is on my team, you can take it up with my superiors." The man gulped, nodding uneasily. Hotch turned to him fully now, the hard stare never faltering. "You will treat Carson like you would with any other agent. Not just because I'm telling you to, not because that girl's been through more in the past seven years than you can even begin to imagine, but because she is the best at what she does. She deserves to be in this building. Do I make myself clear?" The man wordlessly nodded, highly intimidated by the orders the dark haired man had just given him. "Good." The two men walked into the area that JJ and Quinn were beginning to set up.

When pictures and maps had been taped up to a clear board, Hotch showed Lieutenant Banks what the team had found. He circled his finger around the spots the team had pinpointed. "The disposal sites are within five miles, but until we know the abduction sites, it's hard to know how big his comfort zone is."

"Transients," Banks said. "They tend to gather in that area." He pointed to the space on the map the team had highlighted. Hotch's phone suddenly vibrated, emitting a loud sound. He pulled it out of his pocket to see a text from Rossi.

He's revisiting.

"We're going to need surveillance teams at each of the disposal sites," Hotch ordered.

"What are you looking for? CSI already scoured the place, they didn't find a thing."

"He could be coming back to relive the crimes. It explains the DNA on the torsos."

Banks nodded. "Two man teams good enough?"

"That works for us," Hotch agreed, nodding once. "Thanks."

JJ and Quinn continued to put together more documents and photos for the board. The two glanced up to see Morgan and Reid entering the station. "Well, Pretty Boy here figured out how to ID the latest vic."

"We had Garcia match body type an weight with local missing women who also had surgeries," Spencer explained.

"Her name's Kim Eakle. She recently moved to California, she's single, her parents just reported her missing," Morgan finished.

"And where's she from?" JJ inquired.

"Riverside," Morgan responded. "But we have no way of knowing where or when she was taken."

Banks nodded. "Well this is all over the news. Everyone's hyper-vigilant. You think he's got some kind of ruse to get her?"

"More like he knocks her out," JJ responded. "Nothing about this guy says charming."

Hotch walked over to the group of five, pressing the screen on his phone to speakerphone. "Garcia," he said, "where are we on the preservatives?"

Penelope's voice came from the phone. "Who knew that Southern California was a hub for silica gel? I've got a dozen places shipping regularly to a few residences."

"No. He needs isolation. Any of the residences have basements or attached garages?" Hotch asked the technical analyst.

"No basements, but two have garages."

"Any of them single men?" JJ questioned.

Garcia almost laughed. "I wish that they were. Then they'd be a doing their silica-weirdness family free. Both of them are married with children, actually."

"Alright, send the addresses," Hotch ordered.

"Yup, done."

"Thanks, Garcia," the leader said.

"My pleasure and honor, boss man," she replied, ending the call.

There was a ghost of a smile on Hotch's face as he scrolled through his contacts, clicking on Rossi's contact. "Dave, you and Kate go to three hundred and four Oak Street. Frank Cowles has been purchasing large quantities of preservatives."

"We're on it," Rossi replied, hanging up.

-----

Rossi and Callahan had reported to the team that they had talked to Frank Cowles about a half an hour after Hotch had called them. The two agents had said that Cowles refused to let them into his house to see what he was using the preservatives for. Callahan spoke with distaste, saying that he seemed 'condescending and sketchy'.

The team at the police department had also gotten a call saying that Frank had left his house and that an undercover cop was going to follow him to see where he ended up. Hotch had put a plan into action, telling Rossi, Callahan and JJ to join him in one of the SUV's to attempt to arrest Frank Cowles.

Quinn glanced up from the laptop she had been given to work with, watching as Spencer wrote on the clear board. He was obviously trying to piece something together, most likely running statistics through his brain that Quinn could not fathom. JJ had informed the girl of the doctor's credentials, surprising and impressing Quinn.

Her brow furrowed as she watched the genius grimace and tenderly touch the right side of his neck once more. He had been doing this frequently and Quinn suspected he had either had a recent injury or had slept poorly. Perhaps both.

"You alright?" Quinn spoke up, glancing down at her computer screen as a webpage popped up. When she saw Spencer face her out of the corner of her eye, her gaze met his. He looked at her in confusion. "Did you hurt your neck?"

His eyes widened slightly and he shook his head. He was about to lie to her. "No, no, I'm okay," he said softly. "I just, uh, I slept the wrong way." Lie. Quinn suspected he had gotten hurt on the job and was hiding how painful it truly was for him, for if he showed any signs of pain, he would have to take a bit of a break from work. The girl was able to tell that he loved his job right off the bat, so not working was definitely not an option for him.

Quinn nodded, looking back down at the laptop. Spencer turned around but soon back to her at the sound of her voice. "I'm not sure I'm the best person to lie to," she told him. Her voice was quiet.

Spencer closed his eyes, sighing. "I know," he whispered, causing Quinn's eyes to flick to his. "I'm okay, though. I am."

Before Quinn could speak, Morgan entered the area, setting down a styrofoam cup of coffee in front of her and one before Reid. "Drink up," he said. "They arrested the guy."

"They got him?" Spencer asked.

Derek nodded, taking a sip from his own cup. "They found three legs in his car. One with him and two in the back of his car."

Quinn shuddered at his words. "What could one person do with three legs?" she inquired, feeling her stomach churn.

"Why would one person want three legs?" Morgan countered, making Quinn shrug in agreement. She suddenly looked between Spencer and Morgan, a resounding question rattling around in her mind. "Q, what is it?"

"Why did he only have the legs?" she asked. "I mean, okay sure, he has a thing for legs. But where are the other parts of the women? He's a husband and a father and only has preservatives in his garage. He's protective of what's his, we can tell that from the way he talked to Callahan and Rossi, meaning that he wouldn't keep the women in a place far from him." Reid and Morgan exchanged a glance, realizing that their new team member had a point. "So if he did kill them, where are they?"

Derek shook his head. "Hopefully he can tell us," he replied, looking down at his phone. "They're bringing him in now. Be prepared to work your magic, Carson."

Quinn watched as the doors of the police department opened, Hotch leading a cuffed Frank Cowles into an interrogation room. She took a deep breath and looked back at Spencer who gave her nod. Quinn gave him a small smile, walking past him after JJ had called her over. Her eyes roamed over his neck, looking for any clues as to why he had been rubbing it. She saw a fresh scar in the shape of a small circle and bit the inside of her cheek as she left.

He'd been shot a couple of weeks prior to this.

She shook off the realization. In the back of her head, she was able to hear Kyle Masters's voice. Don't let your heart rule your mind.

Quinn was hesitant to let phrases of her past life back into her head, but she allowed herself this one. It was important to remember in this situation. She couldn't let Spencer's injury cloud her mind while working. The heart and the mind were two separate things, she had to make sure they stayed that way to do this job.

JJ addressed Quinn as the girl came up next to her. "Kate and Rossi are going to interrogate him. He's pretty hard-headed so it may take a bit of convincing for him to speak the truth." JJ now fully faced Quinn. "Just let us know when he's lying or telling the truth." The girl nodded, seeing Aaron Hotchner stand next to her. He requested that JJ ask the Frank's wife, Sandy a couple of questions. Quinn stared ahead at the interrogation. It was odd to be on the outside of that type of room.

"Is my wife here?" Frank Cowles asked, glancing nervously to his right.

"Yes," Rossi answered. Frank grimaced.

"My son?"

Callahan shook her head. "He's at home," she told him, leaning up against the brick wall with one hand in her hip. "But when his friends hear about this on the news, he'll have a lot of questions."

Quinn observed as Cowles's expression became somber. "He cares about his family," she noted. "If this is our guy, the family isn't involved. He wouldn't do that to them." Hotch nodded.

"You enjoying this?" Frank asked from his chair inside of the room.

"Not in the least," Callahan replied.

Frank's tone turned angry as he said to her, "Because your whole approach seems callous to me," he hissed.

Kate let out a sigh of feigned offense. "Oh, you're a judger," she groaned, pointing a finger in his direction and nearing closer. "That is really... That's something." She turned to Rossi. "Don't you just love that?"

"What's with your hated of women?" Rossi asked.

Frank scoffed. "I don't- I don't hate women."

"So holding onto their limbs is something you do out of love?"

"No! Look, I love love my family. T-this has nothing to do with them."

Rossi raised a brow. "You gonna tell your wife that?" Frank was quiet, nervously glancing around the room. Kate sat down in front of him and placed her head on her hand.

"He's embarrassed by his fetish," Quinn said. "He's quiet because his wife now knows the truth, not because he got caught. I don't think he's our guy," the girl told Hotch quietly.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

Quinn pursed her lips, moving her mouth to the side. "Almost positive. Let Rossi and Callahan continue just to make sure. We could get information on our real guy that way." The leader nodded, focusing back on the interrogation.

"It's fine," Kate said. "It's your right to remain silent. We'll just... Keep you company until your transportation arrives."

Rossi moved to lean against the table. "You know, I've been doing this a long time. And the funny thing about it, behavioral science, is it's not exactly like physics." It seemed as though he were talking only to Kate, but he glanced to his right to make sure Frank was listening. "We get surprises all the time... Like him," he said, looking at Frank.

"You know," Kate began, "I bet if we talked to all the neighbors, they'd say the same thing. Friendly guy, maybe pick up on some of his insecurities. A little too... Average."

Beyond the glass, Quinn's eyebrows shot up at Frank's reaction to Kate's words. His nervous expression turned cold, glaring holes into the side of the agent's face. "Cowles did not like that," she mused.

"Probably a fear of his," Hotch said. "Not being considered special."

Rossi spoke up from inside of the interrogation room. "But what none of the neighbors would see is what a guy like him is like when no one is watching." Quinn watched as he fumbled with his fingers. A nervous habit or a way to conceal his anger, Quinn thought. Verbally at least. "So desperate to be aggressive, dominant."

"Yeah, this one surprises me," Kate said. "I mean, his fantasies were innocent enough, managed them all these years." She shook her head. "What was it that made him snap and kill three people?"

Frank's head moved up, a slightly horrified look in his eye. "Now, wait. You think I killed them?"

Quinn shook her head. "He's too surprised by the allegation. His nervous habits and tells are too blatant for him to be able to act and lie this well. He's not able to conceal his emotions well enough." She felt Hotch's eyes on her as she spoke.

Frank then spoke once more. "No, no, no, no," he pleaded. "I just bought their limbs."

Quinn felt her breath catch in her throat. She was right. Hotch turned to her. "Good work, Carson."

"Yeah, well," Quinn said, closing her eyes and laughing meekly. "Being an ex-convict has it's perks." She saw a small smile appear on the leader's lips.

Meanwhile, Callahan and Rossi exchanged a look. Quinn was correct. This was a real thing. "From who?" David asked.

"I-uh, I don't know, he stammered. Lie.

Callahan saw it too. "You're gonna have to better than that."

"So what did you do, just put out a classified?" Rossi questioned.

"Well, sort of," Frank responded. "There's this guy. I found him in a chat room. He finds whatever it is you're looking for."

"And how do you get it?"

Frank swallowed. "Uh, well, it's in a different place every time. Uh, rest stops, abandoned places mainly." He paused and inhaled. "I leave the cash and he leaves what it is I paid for."

"But you wouldn't drive off right away?" asked Kate.

"No. I'd want to be alone with it."

"And you never had the chance to meet him, not even once? Never saw a strange car?" Rossi interrogated.

"No, no. Never, I swear," Frank said.

Callahan and Rossi nodded, exchanging a look. "Thank you for your help," Callahan told him, pushing her chair back and exited the room. Rossi followed in suit.

The two met Hotch and Quinn outside of the room. "You were right," Rossi said, sending a small smile to Quinn.

"I wish I wasn't," Quinn replied with a humorless chuckle.

"We'll tell Banks and the rest of the team what we found," Hotch instructed. "Then, we'll get to work on figuring out who the seller is."

The three agreed and then proceeded to walk to the place the team had set up shop in the police department. Rossi and Callahan talked to Lieutenant Banks while Hotch filled Morgan, Reid and JJ in on what had happened. Everyone's eyes fell on Quinn as Hotch spoke, Quinn too busy on her laptop to notice.

When Hotch had finished talking, Spencer walked over to Quinn, leaning on the table beside her. "What are you looking for?" he asked her. Quinn jumped slightly, surprised by his presence. "I'm sorry, I need to stop doing that."

Quinn shook her head with a small smile. "No, no, it's okay. I was just searching through an old email account the Horsemen had set up to see if, for some odd reason, there were any details discussing this type of market." She saw Spencer nod. "The account's dormant, however. They're not getting anymore mail. And I can't seem to find anything. It was worth a shot, though."

The doctor nodded once more. He cleared his throat before speaking. "You're already impressing Hotch with your work," he said. "We were all surprised that you ended up being right."

Quinn stood up straight, a small smile coming across her lips. She raised a brow. "You doubted me?" she teased. Quinn wasn't sure what it was that made her feel comfortable enough around Spencer to joke with him. She had a momentary flashback to her days at Stanford, remembering what it was like to her old self.

Spencer laughed to himself, shrugging slightly. "I mean the idea was a bit strange."

"But strange is what you work with, no?" she countered.

"What we work with," he corrected quietly. Quinn's grin expanded at his words.

The two were snapped out of their conversation by Morgan whistling softly to them. His eyebrows raised, his signature 'I-caught-you' smile bright. He pointed to Lieutenant Banks who was speaking.

"The whole thing sounds bizarre," Banks stated. "You believe him?"

Callahan nodded. "Yes. Fetishes aren't always violent. He had a need for the limbs but not a desire to kill."

"Then who are we looking for?" asked Banks.

"A single white male, thirty to forty, living in isolation," Hotch said.

"He seeks out solitude because he was probably raised in an abusive home and he's still looking for refuge," Morgan noted.

JJ spoke, "Chances are he lost his job recently, which is why he sold the body parts."

"His lack of social skills point to menial work, but his sophistication tells us he's more intelligent that we thought," Rossi added.

"Just like Jeffery Dahmer, he's also deranged, but he's learned from others' mistakes," Reid said. "He knows not to keep strong smells around for too long, which is why he disposes of the torsos within a few days."

Callahan shrugged, sighing slightly. "There's a very good chance he snapped because of serious rejection."

"If he finally got the guts to ask a woman out, he would have been clumsy and aggressive and she would have pushed him away," JJ told Banks.

"It's why he got rid of all the things that symbolized intimacy. It's how his psychopathology developed," Hotch said, folding his arms over his chest.

Quinn looked at the Lieutenant. "Looking through recent restraining orders would be a good idea, see if there's anyone who fits the profile."

"But if this is about a girl who rejected him, why kill a guy first?" Banks questioned.

"The man might be connected to the second victim," Hotch answered.

JJ nodded. "But without their identities, we can't say for sure."

Banks sighed and ran a hand in down his face. "What about the revisiting? Can we catch him like that?"

"He's obsessive about these locations, but he's probably seen the surveillance," Hotch said.

"Well then-" Banks shrugged, shaking his head. "What will he do?"

Aaron Hotchner answered after a beat. His voice was somber, regretful. "He'll find a new victim."

-----

TWO UPDATES IN TWO DAYS THIS IS UNHEARD OF

i've had a shit ton of freetime lately so i've decided to update this story a bunch just because i love writing it and you all seem to like reading it i may even update again later idek

this was kind of a long one but there was just so much dialogue that had to be covered and i'm trying to evolve relationships between quinn and other characters so just stick with me

i can't wait for you all to see how this ends up i'm so excited to really get into the plotline i've created ahhhh

as always i love you all tons.
-mags