CHAPTER FORTY THREE: NO BODY, NO CRIME !

10x01

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       CASEY WILLOWS, WAS IN DIRE NEED OF A COFFEE FIX THIS MORNING. It had been a rough night with Christopher and getting him to bed and so, Spencer, being the loving fiancé he is, decided to go to him and Casey's favorite coffee shop in town to get her coffee that wasn't from their work machine for once.

        Casey had been working on some paperwork when she had seen her fiancé come to her aid with coffee in his hands. "Oh, thank you." Spencer leaned down and the two pecked each other on the lips. "I really needed this."

Their attention than turned over to their team, all walking in. "I know. It surprised me, too." Rossi spoke to JJ as they walked in with Vivian, Garcia and Morgan. "What? What surprised you?" Garcia pried almost immediately.

"Hotch talked to Emily." JJ revealed. "And?" Garcia asks. Rossi sighs, "She just doesn't want to come back." Casey's face frowns as she hears the news. "Why? She loves us." Garcia questions. "But she loves London more." Casey added.

Ever since Blake left, Hotch had been trying to find a replacement for her since they were down an agent. To say that they were going through a rough patch with trying to find an agent to replace Blake was an understatement.

"For what it's worth, Hotch is interviewing someone we've met before." Spencer tells. "He is?" Casey asks. "Yeah, I met her on the way up."

"How many candidates is that now?" Morgan asks. "This one makes lucky number 10." Rossi answers. "At this rate, Hotch is practically killing himself trying to find another agent. I'm assuming he'd accept anyone at this point." Vivian told.

"What?" Garcia starts. "See, this is what happens when I don't sleep. I miss things. Who is this person? Are they nice? Why is that the first question I always ask?" Garcia rants as Casey looks up at Hotch's office. "And why are the blinds always closed? That's my question." Casey told.

Garcia then gets a message about their new case they have yet to take care of. Everyone heads up to the conference room, ready to tackle this case when Hotch walks in with a woman right behind him.

"Everyone, this is SSA Kate Callahan from Andy Swan's unit. She'll be joining the team." Casey's eyes widen once the woman walks in. "Kate?" Casey asks. The woman's face changes into a wide smile. "Casey?"

"Oh, my gosh!" Casey rushes in to hug the woman, to which Kate gladly accepts. "I take it you to go back before karaoke night." Morgan comments.

"As a matter of fact, we do." Kate tells. "We were roommates back at the academy. They always paired me with her. Hey? Remember our handshake?" The two women practice their groovy handshake in front of the team.

Casey and Kate had gone way back to the academy days. Sure, they'd seen each other here and there with their jobs but it was really cool to be working alongside each other again. Casey was kinda glad this new agent was somebody she had known for nearly a decade.

"Congratulations on joining the team." Spencer compliments. "Thank you," She then looks towards both Casey and Spencer. "How's the baby doing? Last I heard, you'd just had him."
"Oh, he's almost one now." Casey tells. "Wow, time flies." Kate comments. "You're telling us." Casey told.

"You said you were from Andi Swan's unit?" Morgan asks. The woman nods. "How is she and Seaver doing?" Casey asks. "Oh, they're great and they say hello." Kate tells, looking around the entire team.

"Welcome, welcome." Garcia smiles. "We can get started." Hotch nods towards Garcia. "Yes we can. The Mad Butcher of Bakersfield has left another torso in the desert. This brings the body count to three this month and still none of them have been identified." Garcia explained.

Casey looks down at the file in front of her. "At this pace, he's going for a record." Rossi nods. "Yeah, and quite the imagery. What's he trying to say? A torso by itself has no life." Kate tells.

"Right. It can't survive. It might be how he sees himself." Rossi theorizes. "Yeah, but why take the legs, the arms, the head? Why just a simple torso?" Casey questions. "It could also be a simple forensic countermeasure. He dumps the torso after getting rid of all the pieces that can identify his victims." JJ tells. "That would make sense for someone who's criminally sophisticated, but this guy's leaving his DNA all over the torsos." Morgan adds.

"Well, we've kept tabs in CODIS. He's not in any system. But it's still a risk for him and taunt to us." Casey looks towards her fiancé and he has his thinking face on. "Hey, Einstein," Rossi speaks up, noticing it, too. "You're awfully quiet."

"I'm just reading here the ME thinks the victims were alive for 48 hours while he disarticulates." Spencer tells. "That means the unsub's sexual gratification comes from cutting." Casey figures. "Exactly," Spencer says, agreeing with his fiancée. "He wouldn't go to these extremes if he were merely discarding the limbs. He obviously enjoys the ritual. It's some kind of torture."

"So if it isn't about easy disposal, the limbs could be his trophies." Vivian added on. "He'd need preserving agents and isolation." Hotch tells. "Garcia, come up with a list of suppliers in Southern California. We'll cross that with a geographical profile when we have it."

"Keywords sodium dioxide and silicate." Spencer says, looking up to Garcia. "You're the best. Thank you." Garcia tells the man. "Tell them we're on our way." Hotch orders. "Yes, sir." Garcia nods.

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On the jet ride, the team had been debriefing over the case. "'The Mad Butcher.' $100 says we have the media to thank for that one." Kate tells. "This is Los Angeles. They tend to make everything a spectacle in the media." Vivian says. "I'm sure he's getting off on it." Kate says. "They always do." JJ added.

"He spared the second victim the mutilations, but the first and latest are covered. There's no clear purpose. Maybe he's experimenting." Morgan told. "Or he's trying to remove something that could identify those victims, like tattoos, birthmarks." Kate figures. "Yeah, but still, it's hard to believe we can't ID a torso." Casey tells.

"I mean, back in the day I'd get it, but nowadays everyone might as well have a microchip." Rossi comments. "Cutting that first victim seems extreme," JJ says. "I wonder if he's linked to him somehow."

"None of the victims matched any missing persons reports and were likely chosen for their anonymity. Southern California's notorious for its transient community." Spencer explained.

"Going after high-risk victims makes sense for this guy. I mean, there's nothing about him that's particularly unique." Morgan tells. "Except he first attacked a male and then moved on to females." Rossi comments. "That's strange, 'cause a fantasy this advanced is usually specific to one type." Kate added.

      "Well, there was no DNA left on this male victim. So it isn't overtly sexual like his other victims." JJ told.

      Rossi then thwarted his attention over to Casey, who had been staring at the file and hadn't put in any input. "Hey, Mrs. Einstein," Casey looked up almost immediately. "What's on your mind?"

      "It's just..." Casey breathes before talking. "This reminds me of... the case with Darryl Hitchford. And they called his brother 'The Philly Butcher', remember?" Casey told, refreshing everyone's memories of the man who had killed Casey's then boyfriend, Sawyer.

"Yeah, but the MO was different," Rossi told. "The arms and legs were found buried next to their victims. And the victimology had been men in their late-thirties."

"Yes, but Willows may have theory here, I think we should look into it." Hotch stated. "Either it's the same man or it's a copycat. When we land, Morgan, you, Casey and Reid go to the medical examiner. Dave and Kate go to the latest disposal site. And Vivian, JJ and I will get set up with Lieutenant Banks at the PD."

         The team had gone their separate ways. Hotch and Vivian had a video call with Darryl Hitchford and he gave them info on the mind of the unsub. He had said he'd gotten fan mail from one particular person who asked him what he had felt while killing and what he did and so Hotch had told Garcia to look back at that and see what she could come with. Soon enough, they had thought they found their guy due to some addresses they found and Hotch sent Casey and Kate to one of the homes.

        Casey knocked on the door and rang the doorbell and about a minute later, a man had come to the door. "What can I do for you, officers?" The man started. "Agents," Kate corrected before Casey could. "Callahan and Willows, FBI." The two women show their badges to the man.

      "Oh. My apologies," The man told. "You must have worked extra hard to get that badge."

      "We sure did," Casey told. "You buy large quantities of preservatives. Am I correct?"
      "Um... is that a question?" The man asks.
      "May we take a look at your supply?" Casey asks. "That's a question."

      "Uh, why? Is there something that's tainted?" The man said, looking a little off-put in his eyes. "No, sir." Casey answered. "Is it a threat to me and my family?" The man asked again. Casey thought before answering, "Well, not particularly—" The man interrupts Casey. "Well, then I'm sorry, no.  But that is my private property, and for you to come into my home, you're gonna need a search warrant."

      "Shoot, I knew we forgot something." Kate spoke sarcastically. "Well, I have to help my son with his homework." The man told, beginning to close his door.

      "Afternoon." Kate says as the man closes his door. Kate then turns over to Casey. "When we arrest that guy, do you mind if I do the honors?" Casey sighs, "Not if I beat you to it first."

      The women stayed behind in a far distance so that the man couldn't see them stay. They informed their team about the man's behavior and figured out where he may have headed. Soon enough, they found the man inside of his vehicle and made the jump.

      Kate was at the passenger's side door as Casey was over at the drivers' side door. Kate knocked on his window with her gun, getting his attention. "You're on private property, so we have probable cause to search your vehicle." Kate told, her gun pointed out at the man. "You may wanna get out of your car." Casey told, opening the door.

    Hotch and Vivian stood closely behind Casey. "We got one." Kate told, looking on the passenger's seat of a leg. "Let's pop the trunk." JJ told. As Casey had done so, she went towards the trunk with JJ and Kate as Hotch and Vivian made the arrest.

    As the women looked at the trunk, the man began to fight and struggle. "Hey, you can't go back there! Get away from there!" Vivian pushed his head down on the car and pulled out her handcuffs. "Stop fighting and shut up." She threatened. "You have no right!" The man shouts.

    Casey looked in the trunk and it almost made her gag. "Hotch." She called. Everyone had drawn their attention to the legs in the back of his car.

     The team had taken him in for questioning and both Casey and Kate had the privilege to do the questioning. The man seemed pretty threatened by the two women so Casey knew this was gonna be fun.

     They sat in silence for a minute or two when they had walked in and it seemed like the man was hesitant to say anything. "Is my wife here?" He began.
     "Yes." Casey answered.
     "My son?" The man asks.
     "He's at home," Kate answered. "When his friends hear about this on the news, he'll have a lot of questions."

     "You enjoying this?" The man assumes, looking towards Kate. "Not in the least." Kate told. "Because your whole approach seems callous to me." The man told.

      "Man, you are so lucky you are handcuffed." Casey comments, leaning back in her chair.
       "Speaking of which— do you think you could loosen—"
       "No." Casey interrupted him like he had earlier.

       The man gave Casey a look and Kate chuckled to herself. "You're a judger. That is really something." Kate leaned forward towards a chair and looked at Casey. "Don't you just love that?"

     "Yeah, what's with your hatred of women, dude? Lack of control? No hot dinner waiting on the table for you when you get home?" Casey questioned.

     "I don't hate women." The man told.

     "Oh, so you like women, you just don't like us. I get it. We get it." Casey told, motioning towards Kate. "But lemme just ask you something here, is holding on to their limbs just something you do out of love, then? Because I can't really find an answer for that."

     "No," The man said defensively. "Look, I love my family. This has nothing to do with them." Casey looks at him and chuckles, "Oh, are you gonna tell your wife that? Because let me tell you, if I found out my husband was doing what you were doing, I'd divorce his ass right on the spot."

      The man had gone quiet and didn't say a word to the women. Kate had taken the opportunity to sit down in a chair, staring at the man coldly as Casey sat on the table, waiting for this guy to say something.

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

       Casey sucks through her teeth and then looked at Kate. "You know, I've been doing this for... about eight years now... and the funny thing about it, something I picked up from Rossi... is that behavioral science, is it's not exact like physics. We get surprises all the time. Like him." Casey told, talking about the man like he wasn't there. "Take the most normal guy on the planet turn him into something... gross."

      "You know, 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." Kate stated and the man glared at her as she spoke about him.

       "But the thing is — none of the neighbors would see what a guy like him is like when no one's watching. So desperate to be aggressive, dominant, out of control." Casey stated.

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

       The man's head snapped forward and his eyes were read with realization. "Wait. You think I killed them? No. No, no, no. I just bought their limbs." Both Kate and Casey make eye contact.

     "From who?" Casey asked, crossing her arms and standing. "I, uh--I don't-- I don't know." The man stuttered. "You're gonna have to do better than that." Kate stared. "So what did you do, just put out a classified?" Casey questioned.

     "Well, sort of," The man started. "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?" Casey asks.
      "Uh... uh, it's in a different place every time. Uh, rest stops, abandoned places mainly. I-I'd leave the cash, and he leaves what it is I paid for."

      "But you wouldn't drive off right away." Kate assumes. "Oh, no. I'd want to be alone with it." The man admits. "And you haven't met him, once? No cars?" Casey asks. "No, no, never. I swear." The man says.

      "So, you're not a killer... you're just a sick bastard." Casey figures out and the man glares at her. "Okay, this was fun. Let's go." Casey tells Kate and the two women leave the room and tell their team about what they had found out — besides Hotch and Rossi since they were watching behind the window.

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     After debriefing with Lieutenant Banks about the case, the team separated and the conference room was left with Casey, Morgan, Spencer and Kate with Garcia on the phone. "You'd think after 10 years, I'd seen it all." Garcia comments. "How many sites are there, mama?" Morgan asks.

    "Hundreds," Garcia reveals. "And that gem of a fellow you've got in custody has looked at all of them at one time or another. Anonymity is huge for these sites. They use a Tor network, which is an onion router. The point is, you're not gonna be able to find anyone this way. Do you know there are actual variations on a disarticulation fetish? I need baby kitten pics asap."

     "Oh, have you seen the hippo who lives with the family?" Kate asks. "What?" Garcia asks. "Sleeps with a blanket, gets massages, eats better than I do." Kate tells. "I think I know what you're talking about." Casey points to the woman. "Where is that?" Garcia asks. "South Africa. It's amazing."

      Both Morgan and Spencer are confused but let the girls have their fun.

    "Trust me, I have an arsenal of cuteness," Garcia tells. "Have you seen the one with the baby elephant--" Kate quickly interrupts Garcia. "Oh, with the baby chicks? Yes, I love that one." Casey immediately joins on the fun. "How about the one with baby panda?" Kate looks at the woman with wide eyes and a smile. "The one that sneezes?" And Casey nods as Garcia responds with: "Oh, my gosh. Yes, it is too cute!"

    "Uh, hey, you guys?" Spencer asks, indicating that maybe they should stop.

     "Sorry." Both Kate and Casey say.
     "Sorry." Garcia adds.

     Casey chuckles to herself silently before turning to her fiancé. "The most recent victim was taken from Riverside. That's more than 2 1/2 hours away from here." Spencer tells. "So his comfort zone isn't limited to here." Morgan figures out. "That's not good. He's got a lot more confidence than we thought." Kate tells. "He's leaving vics here, so he must have some connection to Bakersfield." Casey added.

    "The ME says he's gotten better at ligating each victim, which means he may have had practice." Spencer assumes. "On what?" Morgan asks. "We didn't originally profile him as an acrotomophile, but that sort of attraction typically has deep roots in childhood." Spencer answers.

     "Maybe the unsub grew up around dead bodies, like a funeral home, so it wasn't that big of a leap for him. He compartmentalizes so there's no remorse." Casey stated. "It could be. We know he wasn't social enough to continue the family tradition, so maybe he found work in a morgue or a hospital." Morgan says.

    "When you say work..." Garcia starts, indicating for some clarifications for what she needs to look into. "Security guard, janitor, anything entry level." Kate helps. "Uh, the UC system has a medical facility in Bakersfield." Garcia says.

    "Anyone fired recently?" Spencer asks. "No, but there's an anatomy professor on sabbatical."
    "Oh, what's his name?" Kate asks.
    "Dylan Myers."

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The rest of the team had gone to to investigate Dylan Myers while Casey stayed behind with Morgan and Spencer. She had gone to get some coffee while Morgan was talking to Hotch on the phone about what the team had found and Casey had come back to see Spencer, fiddling with his neck under his collar.

It had been just a couple months since what happened in Texas. They didn't talk about it and Spencer pretty much made it clear that he didn't want to. Whenever Casey would try to, Spencer would change the subject to something else. A recent case, Christopher. He would pretty much bring up anything else besides that. But Casey didn't blame him, she was the same way. He just wanted to move on.

       Casey had come around the corner and watched for a moment before walking in front of him and speaking. "Hey, you okay?" She then turned to the one thing she always did when something serious happened, she joked about it. "We weren't too rough in bed the other night, were we?" She asked.

       Spencer blushed furiously before shaking his head. "No, I'm okay. Are you okay?" He asked. Casey shrugged, "Just tired." She admitted. "You've been tired a lot recently." Spencer asked, seeming concerned. "Yeah, I know." She says.

       Truth be told, Casey hadn't been getting enough asleep for the past few weeks. Every time she'd close her eyes, she was back in Texas. Nothing ever really good happened there for her. First when she was shot and then when Spencer was. She had always been brought back to those two nights. And whenever she'd sleep, she'd have nightmares. She had wanted to tell Spencer what was going on but it seemed selfish to bring up.

      Morgan had come into the room next, interrupting the two's conversation so Spencer moved on. "Dr. Lee sent this over. The most recent victim had more than just leather particulates in her stomach. She chewed through it, leaving entire chunks behind. And she also found traces of horse hair. He's using a bridle." Spencer explained.

     "This guy could have used anything. Why that?" Morgan asks. "It's either specific to his fantasy or something he had easy access to. I'm gonna call Garcia, see how many horse ranches are out there."

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      In the end, the unsub was caught and shot by Hotch before he could attack Kate. Now, they were on the jet ride home, tired and quiet. Casey had been leaning against a window in front of Kate, who was holding her shoulder in pain.

      Casey had noticed this and sat up a bit. "First case rough?" She asks. "Oh, you bet." Kate nodded and JJ had come to sit next to Casey on the jet since she was just momentarily in the bathroom.

     "How many did you get?" JJ asks, indicating Kate's wounds. "Uh, 10." Kate admits. "Hmm. Well, uh, vitamin E oil helps with the scarring." JJ tips off. "Have you ever tried cocoa butter?" Kate asks. "No." JJ tells, amused. "Yeah. 6 stitches inside, 8 out. Guy got through the tendon. Port authority." Kate explains. "Tortured, last year. Good times." JJ tells. "Nice." Kate chuckles, surprised.

      "Since we're talking torture," Casey starts, pointing towards her abdomen. "Shot here," She then relocated her hand to her thigh. "Shot here," Then to her arm. "Shot here."  Casey sighs as she thinks. "And don't even get me started on the taser burns."

      Morgan comes to join in the conversation, sitting next to Kate. "Oh, and don't even get this guy started." JJ comments. "Yeah, Mr. Kicks-Doors-Down-For-A-Living." Casey jokes. "What are we doing? Are we talking battle scars? Oh, yeah. I probably hold the record." Morgan brags. "So what are the rules? Are we just talking stitch counts, or we going full on with like broken ribs, pistol whips, concussions?"

      "You weren't kidding." Kate smirked. "Told you." JJ warned. "Yeah, if you ever get paired with this guy on a case, chances are you're screwed. I speak from experience." Casey tells.

     "Well, why don't we start with the most recent," Morgan starts as Casey playfully rolls her eyes towards JJ. "Guy hit me in the arm. Same guy hit me twice in the chest, but I was wearing my vest, so I only ended up getting welts." Casey leans back towards the window and JJ leans on Casey's shoulder, both pretending to be tired due to Morgan's bragging. "You see, these idiots, they think they can beat me, but they can't, so they at least try to hurt me, you know? What else? Oh, let's not forget when I got blindsided and thrown out a window."

      "Oh, who could forget that one?" Casey asks, remembering she was with him when that happened.

      "Or when we jumped out of an ambulance together. Now, that hurt." Casey comments. "And who wanted to go with me on that one?" Morgan asks, looking towards the woman as Casey rolls her eyes and looks towards JJ, who's laughing. "I'm gonna kill him."

      "Welcome to the team, Callahan." Morgan says, looking towards the woman and he bumped into her shoulder. "Thanks. Ow."

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After they landed, the team filled out their paperwork on the case and headed straight home. Casey had driven home with Spencer and said their hellos and goodbyes to Edith and she finally left and Casey closed the door and yawned. "Home sweet home." Casey commented. "Yeah." Spencer said as Casey took her coat off and placed the car keys on the  counter.

      Casey looked up and noticed that Spencer was fiddling with his neck again. Almost as if he was trying to scratch it without hurting himself. "Okay, what's going on with you?" Casey decides to ask and Spencer looked at the girl in confusion. "What do you mean 'what's going on with me'?" He asks.

     "Your neck. It's bothering you, I can tell." Casey points. "It's just an itch I can't scratch." Spencer admits. "Here, I got some vitamin E oil in the bathroom. Also, get my cocoa butter. Kate mentioned something about that." Casey told.

      Soon enough, the two rejoined in their bedroom and Spencer sat at the edge of the bed. Casey was changed into one of her silk nightgowns and was ready to help Spencer. She had grabbed the oil and placed on the bed, carefully. As she did that, Spencer had undone his tie and she then stood in front of the man and began to unbutton his shirt. Soon enough, the boy was shirtless in front of her, like he usually always was.

"It might sting just a little because your wound is still pretty recent." Casey told, grabbing the oil and deciding to sit behind him. She dipped her hand in the oil to gather some and rubbed on his neck. Spencer winced a bit once the oil came in contact with his body but eventually, he had taken a deep breath and let himself relax.

Casey had even taken it upon herself to massage Reid's shoulders. He had needed it after all of the things he'd been through. Spencer enjoyed it, definitely, no doubt about it — but he had a look written on his face. It was the look he had when he was always thinking. And it was his look of self-doubt, Casey recognized.

"You okay?" Casey decides to ask. Spencer looks her way for a moment and nods, "Yeah." That didn't sound very convincing. Casey thought in her head and then the girl waited and that's when Spencer shakes his head. "No." He admits.

Casey stops doing what she's doing and sits down next to him. "What's going on, baby?" She asks. Spencer doesn't make eye contact with the woman and is beginning to let his thoughts get the best of him. "Am I... boring now?" He asks, voice quiet.

Casey furrows her brows in confusion. "What do you mean?" She asks.

"I mean, I know I haven't been of much help since everything that happened. And I know you've been stressing with Chris and our job and— I don't know, I'm starting to think that maybe you're tired of me." Spencer revealed what he was thinking and Casey hated that he put that thought into his own head. It pained her whenever she saw him like this. Always putting himself down. Casey would often shut that down in the time that they've known and loved each other and this was one of those times.

"Spencer," Casey sighed, taking Spencer's hand into hers. She kisses the back of his hand and covers her hands with his. "I could never get tired of you. Or bored of you, or whatever you think." She looks down. "I am tired and it's not because of me getting up with Christopher or whatever... I'm tired because I can't sleep. And I haven't been sleeping for a while. Because whenever I close my eyes, I go back to that night. And I can't fathom the thought of ever losing you." She admitted. Casey couldn't tell him that whenever she'd close her eyes, she'd see him dead on that gurney. Or the fact that she thought he was dead to begin with.

Spencer's face faltered, seeing how much he had an affect on Casey and what happened to him. He placed a hand on her face and caressed her soft cheek and tucked a strand of loose hair falling on Casey's face. Casey leaned on Spencer's shoulder and Spencer's voice had barely come out in a whisper as he spoke next. "I'm sorry I scared you that night." He said.

Casey looked at Spencer and exhaled. "It's not your fault." She assured. "You were just trying to do something good." She places a hand on the back on his hair and plays with his hair.

Spencer leaned forward to Casey and closed the gap between them. Their passionate kisses turned into quiet hunger as their tongues began to explore each other's mouths and one of Spencer's hands roamed towards the hem of Casey's nightgown and towards her thigh. The other hand remained on her face, pulling her in more. Casey's hand further tugged Spencer's locks and the two laid on the bed. Spencer's hand found Casey's above her head and he held onto her hand and from then on, the night was filled with bliss.

Y'all know what happened.

hey lovelies!!!!
y'all can thank tumblr for the fluff bc i can't stop reading spencer reid imagines on there 🫶
literally when i'm not writing, i'm on there

anywayssss
SEASON 10!!!
SO EXCITED FOR THIS AND FOR WHAT I HAVE PLANNED🥳

kate and casey are such a superior duo😁
i'm so excited for more of them this season-

also
peep the new gif
and peep the new cover </333

thank you for reading!
i appreciate and love y'all!
-mya </3333