"Stop it.."
Chapter Five: Long Distance Serial Killers
1x06:L.D.S.K.

*Trigger Warning*

Eden was waiting by Reid's desk for him . She was trying not to make it obvious, Gideon stepped out from the bathroom, he was heading back to his office.

"Reid failed his qualification." Elle says as Eden is biting her thumb nail she was pacing back and holding a cupcake. She was so anxious for him, she spent all night baking. She got out of control like when Izzie killed Denny, out of control. She made so many cupcakes she dropped some by the clinic and left some more in the break room. Which did not count the batch she still had sitting at home.

" He can re-test in two weeks." Gideon replies with a slight shrug.

"Yeah, but he's gonna be embarrassed about it, so let's not mention it." Elle looks at Derek when she says the last part,

"Yeah, let's not." Gideon says as Eden is practically glaring at Derek. 

"Not a word." He replied nonchalantly Eden perks up when she sees Reid walk in.

"Goodmorning Spence." She smiles at him sliding a cupcake over the small divider that was in between their desks. He just gives her a small smile.

"Morning Den." He smiles down at the cupcake seeing it was red velvet.

Derek clears his throat and walks over to Reid his hand behind his back.

" Hey. We're all here for you" Reid gives him a look." I'm serious. If you ever need anything.." He pulls a whistle from behind his back and places it around his neck. "Just blow on that." He laughs as Reid frowns, taking the whistle and tossing it in the trash.

He goes to walk back to his desk and Eden sticks her foot out causing him to trip. He looks over at her and she whistle pretending it didn't happen while Elle and Reid are laughing.

" Ok, Franklin park, Des Plaines, yesterday afternoon." JJ explains as she begins handing out files.  "three victims shot at distance. It's the third such shooting in two  weeks."

" A sniper?" Elle ask.

" We don't use that word." 

"Why not?" Elle continues.

" The public perception is that the FBI doesn't have an exemplary record with snipers."

"Besides, a sniper is a professional marksman. These guys aren't snipers." Hotch explains.

"What do we call 'em then?"

" L. D. S. K. Long distance serial killers."  Reid sits back in his chair as Elle looks at everyone with wide eyes.

"How many of these guys have we caught using a profile?"

" None." Gideon says

They all gather into the round table room, waiting for everyone to file in. Eden takes a seat next to JJ and Reid. Seeing her coffee cup sitting in the spot, she looks inside seeing it full of coffee and she shrugs, figuring Reid got it for.

" Two  weeks, three  shootings  incidents, six victims,  all shot in the abdomen. First and only fatality, Henry Sachs, married, father of Three, was shot in a shopping center parking lot. Nine days later, Doug Miller and Kevin Parks were playing basketball at a community center. Franklin park, Four  days later, Jerry Middleton, Kate Murray, and Tim Reilly. Des Plaines police have found no link between any of the victims."

" Ballistics?"

" He's using frangible rounds, which fragment on impact, making ballistics comparisons impossible." Hotch continues.

" The good news is that all the park victims are gonna make it. The bad news is that none of them saw anything. However, one of the patients does have an intact bullet lodged in his spine."

" What's the prognosis?" Gideon asks as Eden perks up wanting to know about it too.

" There's a disagreement among surgical staff as to whether they can remove the slug without paralyzing the patient."

" Well, without a useful witness or a solid piece of forensic evidence..." Derek says.

"The profile's all we'll have."

Nietzsche wrote, "the irrationality of a thing "is not an argument against it's existence, rather, a condition of it."

"L. D. S. K. S are so rare, we haven't been able to build a standard profile. Here's what we do know:They're always male, and they frequently have law enforcement or military experience, and they always contact the police or the media."

" To take credit or relive the experience?"

" Both. All serial killers  attempt to relive the ecstasy they get from their kill. Some use souvenirs taken from the victim, and others return to the dump site to interact with the body. Both modes require contact with the victim, contact which, by definition, long distance serial killers don't have." Gideon explains.

" The beltway shooters left a tarot card at one of their crime scenes. Later they called a tip hotline, which ultimately led to their capture."

" But our unsub hasn't contacted anybody." Eden says.

"He will."

" Until he does, what do we have?" Elle asks.

" Sometimes it's not what the unsub does that reveals the profile. Sometimes it is what they do not do."

" He doesn't kill his victims." Reid explains as everyone nods.

"UnderKill's a unique signature"

" The question is, does he shoot them in the stomach intentionally just to wound them, or is he just aiming at the biggest part of the target? Specifically, does the unsub lack the kIll to make the head shot, or simply the will to take it?" Hotch says Eden sighs she wasn't looking forward to working in a hospital again.

Eden was with Gideon, Elle and JJ.

"Good morning, doctors."

" Forgive us. We were just reviewing the cases at hand. This is dr. Neil Erstadt, chief of surgery, and our trauma specialist, dr. Joshua Whitehead. These are the FBI profilers, agents Gideon, Jareau, Greenaway, and..."

" Hunters." Josh says as Eden sighs. She wanted to give anything not to be here. After Mark came along Joshua went actually insane and decided he should move from the hospital.

" How are you?" He asks as everyone looks at Eden, she just stays quiet.

Gideon walks up to Josh. "Nice to meet you" He extends his hand out for Josh to shake

" Forgive me. I don't shake. My hands, you understand?"

" Of course."

" So as psychological profilers, what exactly are you looking for?" Josh was mostly staring at Eden and she felt sick, like physically ill.

" How the victims were shot. That could reveal the shooter's signature behavior."

" These separate wound channels blossom from the entrance wounds. You can see the trauma's extensive" Dr. Neil points to the x rays on the wall.

"You performed the surgeries?" Gideon asks.

" On patient miller. I consulted with Dr. Whitehead on the others. The intact slug lodged between the l4-l5 vertebrae. Any attempt to remove it would likely leave the patient paralyzed."

" In your opinion." Josh says.

" In my opinion."

" Disagree?" Gideon quirks a brow at Josh.

" With the right surgeon, there is no risk."

" There's always risk." Neil says.

"What significance does the bullet have in building a profile?"

" Well, even if we can't get a ballistics match, we can get a rifle type, and the specific type of rifle the suspect uses, that could be very significant to the profile."

" You believe you can safely perform the surgery Dr. Whitehead?" the director of the hospital asks as Josh nods.

" I know I can." Neil and the director leave and Josh walks up to Eden, "We should get coffee before you leave town."

Eden watches everyone else in the room, they were watching and she couldnt blow up and Josh like this infront of her colleagues and one of her bosses. "Yeah sure."

He smiles. "Excellent I will have one of the nurses give you my number, it was nice seeing you Den."

"Yeah..." she replies and he leaves. She wants nothing more than to bang her head against the wall.

They all sit in the conference room waiting for Josh to bring them the bullet.

"If I'm the unsub, why do I shoot my victim between 2:55 and 3:15?" Elle asks.

" That's when I'd do it. There are fewer cops on the street."

" Why is that?" JJ sits up straighter in her seat.

"Well, the police overlap shifts so there's always someone minding the store. Second shift starts at 3:00, first shift walks at 3:30."

" Wouldn't there be twice as many cops on the street at that time?" Eden asks.

" In theory. The first half-hour of your shift, you're in roll call. You're not on the street. And the last half-hour, you're at the station. You're finishing' reports, you're booking prisoners, so the 25 minutes around the first/second shift, that's a bad guy's golden window."

" How many people outside law enforcement would know that? But the unsub does, and you've already thought of this."

" I had considered it. "  Gideon says as the women chuckle.

Josh comes into the room. He drops the bullet in a bag onto the table. "Hope you find it useful." he turns to leave.

" Dr. Whitehead? How's mr. Middleton."

"The Patient will make a full recovery... As I told you he would." He winks at Eden before leaving.

" Radiology is set up to take photos and email them out for consults."

" Call Hotch. We're gettin' the bullet to Garcia. Fill him in on the shift change theory." Gideon gets up from his seat and leaves as Eden, runs a hand over her face. There was another shooting that happened this time at a restaurant and Gideon, Elle, Eden and JJ went to check it out, they concluded that it was time to give the profile.

"This initial profile is not ready to be given to the media. Releasing this profile prematurely can get people killed." JJ steps to the side to let the Team present Hotch going first.

"We're looking for a 30 to 40-year-old male veteran, driving a car large enough to sh**t from, but not so large it was noticed. Like the beltway shooter, it's probably a sedan, customized to conceal the shot, his weapon, and the sound of his shot. The unsub suffers from both narcissistic and paranoid personality disorders. He works out obsessively and is never without a weapon. He's completely self-centered and cannot empathize with others. Incapable of admitting fault, he blames his shortcomings on those around him. He has no friends, and his career history has been marked by frequent job changes. He's drawn to high-stakes jobs by a need to prove his superiority to a world he perceives has undervalued him, and these shootings are the ultimate expression of that need. We believe he changes jurisdictions intentionally and strikes during the first/second shift change, indicating an intimate knowledge of law enforcement." Hotch explains.

" You're saying he's one of us."

"We're saying he once was or is now a police officer."

" Is he driving a white van, too?" One guy comments as all the officers laugh.

" Enough. That'll be all for now." The sergeant gets up, He turns to Hotch. " We can talk in my office. Thank you."

They were now planning the reenactment.

"I do have a clear view of the vehicle from here. Tim Reilly would have seen it if he'd looked down from the kite." Eden explains.

" Good. Have the unsub pop the trunk. See if Eden can see it."

" No, sorry. I cant."

" Nothing from position one." Gideon says

"Ok, everyone, move to position 2"

Eden feels her phone vibrate  and prys it out of her pocket seeing a text from Hotch to duck. She immediately doesn't hesitate and crotches behind a tree. There's a gunshot heard and before long they are collecting Mccarty from the trunk, she watches from behind the tree, hearing a gunshot she hides behind the tree more before Spencer comes over giving her the all clear. They all walk into a room to talk.

"How did Mccarty end up playing the unsub?" JJ asks

" Weigart punished Mccarty for mouthing off during the profile briefing by making him unsub and sticking him in the trunk of the car all afternoon."

" Wait. Then how did the unsub find out about the reenactment?" JJ furrows her brows.

" Come on. Cops talk. Pissed-off cops talk loud- at home, at the bars, at gyms, and to anyone who'll listen."

" What do we know? Our unsub went from wounding civilians to executing a police officer, so he's escalated. He's not staying on script." Gideon says.

" Sometimes it's what they don't do."

" He did not pick McCarty at random." Reid replies from behind his spot behind Eden.

" He didn't take the gut shot."

"Why?" Hotch asks.

" He wants to send a message. "Nobody takes credit for my work." Eden explains as Gideon nods.

"Yes, Ma'am. His ego won't allow it. He feels underappreciated. "

"Ok, but we still don't know why he wounds them." Derek's phone rings and he pulls it out of his pocket.

" We know if the killer has no contact with his victim, he will contact the media. But he hasn't contacted the media. He has contact with his victim. And there's only one way."

" All right, thanks. Garcia nailed down the geographic profile. The crime scenes are centered on 2 separate locations."

" The hospitals."  Hotch says as Gideon nods.

Before long they all arrive at the hospital going inside, they are sitting around the same conference room they were in before, Eden feels anxious on high alert, she hates this eery gut feeling.

"Ok. Courtesy of Garcia." Derek pulls a paper from the printer. " Whitehead was an army, started out in M. P. School. Well, there's your law enforcement. But he was smart, got a degree from uncle sam, and ended up a doctor with special forces and bounced around from hospital to hospital since his discharge in 2001." Derek reads off the list as Eden feels her body shift uncomfortably.

" Has dr. Whitehead. Has he had a reprimand?" Has he had any kind of major blow to his ego?"

" Last month, he was passed over for chief of surgery." The director of the hospital explains.

" Let's get a warrant for his house. Let's see if we find the weapon."

" Ok." Derek stands up to leave.

" What can I do to help?"

" You can tell me where he is right now." Gideon says as she tells him where Whitehead is and Eden feels herself wanting to cry, all those memories of Mark and Josh were coming back, she wanted to scream, run away as fast as she could if only it were that simple she had drowned out the fact that Gideon was confronting her ex boyfriend right in front of her,

" You get anything from his car?"

" It's a red 2-seat maserati." Hotch says as Eden blinks a few times.

"Heh. Of course." JJ replies, rolling her eyes.

" If he's the shooter, he has another vehicle." Hotch says they go back to watching Gideon interrogate Whitehead.

"Where were you today at 3:00?"

" I was in my office."

" Alone?" Gideon asks, Josh looks towards the window where everyone is watching.

" I was in my office with dr. Hannah pate. I'm not the only one who thinks I'm a god. She's in the E. R. Right now. Go on. Ask her." he yells a sick smirk on his face. Eden can already feel the bile running up her throat,

"Great Reid Let's take a walk down to the E. R."

"I'll come with you." Eden says as Hotch just sighs as the trio leaves.

"My guess, dr. Pate is gonna corroborate Whitehead''s alibi." Hotch says as Eden gulps her hands folded over her chest.

" You don't think Whitehead's the shooter?"

" Richard Angelo wanted to be a hero because in his everyday life, he was a nobody. Landman's a surgeon. He has power and recognition." Hotch continues.

" Yeah, but you know, surgeons are a different breed. There are stars in the field, and Whitehead is definitely not one of them." Reid says as Eden snorts out a laugh. They walk towards a nurse's desk.

" Excuse me. I'd like to speak with dr. Pate." Hotch flashes his credentials at a man who is on the computer.

"Yes, sir. I'll go find her for you." He walks away.

" The motivations for hero homicide are excitement, power, and respect, and even though Whitehead's not a star, he still gets respect. Racing against the clock to save someone's life is exciting.'

" But maybe it's not exciting enough. That's-that's why he shoots three people at a time."

" But he can only operate on one at a time. It wouldn't be any more exciting."

Eden shrugs. "Not unless you're in the ER, my intern year alone I was working on at least ten different people in the ER. It's busy and chaotic, anything can happen at any given moment..." Edne has a flashback about the shift change scenario with Gideon. Her Eyes go wide indicating she was thinking faster than her lips could catch up with her brain to tell everyone what was going on. " The policemen and E. R. Personnel are on the exact same 24-hour shift schedule. "The unsub wasn't shooting at shift change because there are fewer cops on the street. He works the second shift in the emergency room...he would have..."

"Contact with the victims." Reid finishes Hotch, gets the picture and pulls out his phone.

" Sir, you can't use the cell phone in the hospital." Eden furrows her brows, that wa sneevr a thing when she was working but not all hospitals are the same. Hotch tucks his phone away and the trio walk over to the nurse. " Excuse me, please.'' She stops what she's doing and Hotch pulls out his credentials. " We're FBI agents, and we believe that one of your staff members might be the sniper. The man we're looking for works second shift, and he would have transferred from Arlington about 2 weeks ago."

" We haven't hired any new personnel in 2 months"

"Are you sure?"

" Yeah." she nods. " Look, I've got patients who need me." Hotch stops her.

"He's in his thirties. He's vain, rude, and arrogant. He works out. He shows up to work late. He blames others for his mistakes, and doesn't take responsibility for his behavior. All of his coworkers detest him."

" It's Phillip Dowd. He's-he picks up shifts at arlington."

" Is he here today?" Hotch asks as her eyes go wide.

" Oh, my god." She begins to Panic and Eden grabs her arm.

" Ok... Ok, your patients need you Calm." Eden assures her they take a breath at the same time.

"Tell me, is Dowd working today? Do you see him?" She looks around and shakes her head no.

" Go tell Gideon." Reid takes off in a sprint. " Reid." he turns to Hotch. " Easy"

Before Hotch can even call Gideon the lights are off, a gunshot is heard. Dowd rounds the corner with a gun the security guard stands in front of him.

" Nobody moves, and nobody dies." Eden and Hotch Both have their guns out. "Better be a headshot. I got this on full auto. Anything less, I go down squeezing the trigger." Dowd Says Eden looks to him then Hotch he lowers his gun putting it on the table but Eden doesnt she keeps hers raised. "Ooh she is feisty, I like her." Dowd grins and Eden rolls her eyes, the overlights leaving a yellow hue on everything.

Hotch nods to Eden to put it down and she does as she is told. Dowd walks over, taking both guns off the counter and sticking them in his pocket.

"Get up! Get over here!" He yells towards Reid he stands up hands up in the hair as defense. " Double time! Let's go!" Reid stands Inront of Hotch and Eden. "You, take your partner's gun, put it on the counter." Dowd points to Eden.

" He's not armed." Dowd just glares down at her. " See for yourself." she shrugs as He approaches the trio.

" Hands on your heads." he says as they do as their told, Dowd throws Reid's satchel on the ground moving him side to side to check his hip. " Get up, Keith. Put those on 'em." he tosses Zipeties to Keith. " Now put 'em on yourself. Now step back. Back up. Back up. Back up. Get down on the ground. Have a seat. Now, what kind of an FBI agent doesn't carry a gun?"

" I'm a profiler."

" Profiler? They sent you to figure me out."

" We did. That's how we found you."

" Shh. Shut up." Hotch mutters as Reid lowers his head.

" No, don't shut up. Tell me what you think you know about me."

" Go ahead, genius. Tell him. Tell him. But remember, get it wrong, and he's gonna kill you." Hotch mutters.  Reid just gulps and looks away. Eden was about two seconds away from smacking Hotch until she realized this was part of his plan.

" Ok. You're the boss. You tell me. Who am I? What's my plan?"

" I know you shot eleven people in broad daylight and left us nothing, you executed a cop in front of the FBI and got away clean, and I know your plan is to go down in a hail of bullets."

Dowd smirks, nodding. " What else do you know?"

"I know you're the smartest guy in every room you've ever been in, and no one's ever known it. People feel threatened by you and try to sabotage you every chance they get. You're not a bad person. You help save all of your victims afterwards. First guy wasn't your fault. If the emts had been there on time, he would've lived."

Dowd lowers his gun. " Took those guys 13 minutes. 13!"

"You want to barricade the door."

" What?"

" Let me and the kid do it. Let 'em see that you've got three FBI  agents in here doing your bidding."

" Right, let you give them a signal"

Eden straightens up as Dowd looks at her, he licks his lips and she just rolls her eyes.

"What signal? They knew you were in here. They knew you were armed. What can I tell them?" Hotch simple replies.

" What is this, some sort of profiler trick?" Dowd raises his rifle again. " New negotiation tactic? I think it's a good idea. Why would you wanna help me?"

" I don't."

"You said they knew I was in here."

" I said they know you're in here." Hotch corrects as Dowd smirks.

" No. That's not what you said."

"Why does it matter?" Eden asks.

" It matters because your partner wants to help me even though he doesn't know it. Go ahead, boss man. Tell them why. If you lie or leave anything out, pop."

" They knew he was in here, they knew he was armed and dangerous, and they knew that he was gonna fight till the last round, and they sent me in here with an unarmed kid who can't shoot his way out of a wet paper bag. And" he looks to Eden. "don't even get me started on this one." Hotch practically growls.

" They set you up." Dowd smirks as Hotch nods.

"Exactly, and they're probably laughing about it right now."

" That's why you wanna help me."

" I wouldn't say I want to help you, but when they come in here to get revenge for the cop you killed you're gonna go down fighting, and in the crossfire, a lot of us are gonna die. They sent me in here. I figure why make it easy for them." Hotch continues as Eden was definitely catching onto the plan. She slides Hotch's gun from his ankel holster holding it behind her back before tucking into the waistband of her pants.  "You know why they took away the boy genius's gun?"

" Why?"

"He failed his qualification. Twice in a year, I gotta listen to him whine about requalifying. So I tutor him... And he fails again." Hotch explains as Reid looks like he's gonna cry Eden moves closer to Reid.

"You think you got it rough? These people have done nothing but undermine me since I got here."

" Put him next to the barricade. That way, when they blast their way in here, both of our problems are solved. That sort of thing can ruin a cop's career." Hotch says as Dowd chuckles. 

"You are one sick dude."

" How do you think I found you?" Hotch curls a brow as Eden slowly slides down the wall and over towards Reid "Can I ask you a favor?"Hotch asks as Eden looks to Dowd. Eden just sits there pretending to be scared pretending to Sob.

" You can ask." Dowd smirks.

" I figure the chances of me getting out of here alive are pretty slim." Hotch continues Dowd just looks her up and down. Before turning to Hotch.

" So?"

" I want to kick the snot out of this kid. He's made my life miserable for three lousy years." Hotch says as Eden watches she gulps thickly making it look like she was a bundle of nerves.

" Go ahead. Knock yourself out." Hotch shoves Reid to the ground. And starts kicking him.

" How smart are you now, smart guy?! It's front sight, trigger press, follow through!" Hitch continues to kick. It's not that hard! A dalmatian could do it!"

"Stop it." Eden tries to pull Hotch off Shielding her front half in front of Reid who was laying down behind her, she can fill him and take the gun from her waistband as he's rolling around groaning.

"Oh please like he didn't deserve it." Hotch just snarls at Eden. "Here comes his mommy to the rescue, be glad it wasn't you." He says as Eden just lets it roll off her back.

"Feel better?"

" I think he got a message" Dowd smirks before looking at Hotch's empty Ankle holster.

"What's that?" he holds his rifle back up his smirk falling Reid sits up revealing Hotch;s gun and shoots Dowd right in the head.

"Federal Agents, Federal Agents. Hold your fire!" Hotch runs towards the door while Eden is checking on Reid. " It's all clear." Hotch tells the Swat team who enters along with the BAU team.

Shakespeare wrote, "nothing is so common as the wish to be remarkable."

Eden walks up to Reid who was sitting in the back of an ambulance she just got done being cleared by a paramedic, she looks at his face taking his cheek in her hand and inspecting the cut on his lip before dabbing alcohol at it. He winces.

"Thank you."

"For what?" Reid furrows his brows.

"For being you."

He just looks even more confused. "I dont know how to be anyone else."

Eden just chuckles as he smiles,  soon Hotch walks up. "You all right? Nice shot."

" I was aiming for his leg." Reid says as Eden chuckles alongside Hotch.

" I wouldn't have kept kicking, but I was afraid you didn't get my plans."

" I got your plan the minute you moved the hostages out of my line of fire." Eden says as Reid nods.

"Me too."

" Well, I hope I didn't hurt you too badly."

Reid unfolds his arms,  "Hotch, I was a twelve year-old child prodigy in a las vegas public high school. You kick like a nine year-old girl." he laughs before handing Hotch back his gun.

"No. Keep it. As far as I'm concerned, you passed your qualification." Hotch pats him on the shoulder and Reid smiles tucking the gun back into his pocket.

"Okay really, give me that." He laughs as Eden sighs, taking a holster off her hip she gives it to him and adjusts it to his waist. Before sticking the gun to it and stepping back. "My baby is all grown up." she teases as he rolls his eyes.

" Reid, you all right?" He reaches in his pocket and Tosses the whistle towards Derek before giving Eden one last smile as the two walk away together.

The plane ride was quiet, Eden was coming back from the bathroom, she was about to curl up with her book again, she took her seat before wincing at the cold goosebumps immediately forming on her arms. She just rubs them, realizing how alive she felt in that moment. A yawn escaped her lips and she doesn want to sleep. Every part of her doesn want too but her body is caving quicker. She just shakes her head rubbing at her arms again before Derek sighs and hands her his blanket, it was his favorite one he always brought it with them on cases said it helped him sleep.

" I am not cold." she simply replies another yawn escaping her lips her eyes were barely open.

Derek just chuckles, "Mhm, whatever you say Red." he places the blanket over a now sleeping Eden. before shaking his head at the woman and deciding to close his eyes. If only they knew this was just the beginning.