Twenty-Six: Tara

12x07 | Mirror Image

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          Things were a bit weird after Julia had gone back to work that next week. After what happened at her place with Spencer, she'd tried to pretend that what happened didn't happen at all. But that wasn't easy when Spencer was practically avoiding her.

         She tried to flirt with him, as if nothing happened — which was probably not a good idea on her part after what happened — and he'd walked away, pretending as if he didn't hear her.

          It took one more attempt to realize that Spencer wasn't going to talk to her and now, she hates it. She hates the fact that it may have just destroyed her friendship with Spencer. A kiss — (a kiss that they both initiated) would end their friendship. To quote The Killers song 'Mr. Brightside', how did it end up like this?

           Since then, Julia tried to carry on with the rest of the team. They hadn't known but she assumed that maybe her and Reid had shown signs. They weren't being their usual selves, it seemed. And Julia prayed to God that even though they were profilers, they wouldn't notice.

          Speaking of profilers, Julia had gone to her desk and realized the majority of the team was in the BAU room. She checks her phone with furrowed brows. No messages to indicate a new case. She decides to check it out for herself and walks into the room.

        "Hey, guys. What's up?" Julia looks towards the screen and finds a photo of Tara and her younger brother, Gabriel. "Why's Tara's brother up on the screen?" She questions, pointing towards the screen.

        "He's in town." Rossi informs and Julia sighs, "Oh, he's probably looking for money again." Garcia slams the remote down and Julia hides her smirk.

         The team had taken a bet to see how long Garcia can keep a secret and Tara had put her up to the test — to which she didn't really last for too long. "Come on, the new guy?" Garcia grumbles, facing towards Luke. "He knows?" Luke hides his smirk as Garcia looks around. "How come I was the last one to know?"

        "It was an experiment," Reid informed. "She wanted to time how long you could keep a private conversation private. And you made it..." He checks his watch. "Twelve hours."

        Luke winces as he shakes his head — "Damn. I had you down for six." Julia silently cheers since she had guessed ten hours. She was the closest.

       "Okay, you know what? You guys, I thought you were my friends. But you suck." Garcia then points threateningly at Julia. "Including you, my sweet angel. You all suck. Especially you, new guy. But then you always suck. Newbie." With that, Garcia marches off in anger.

       Reid looks around once the coast is clear of a rage-filled Garcia. "I had fourteen hours. I think I win, right?" Julia shakes her head, "No way, I had ten!" It was then that she realized they'd spoken and Spencer gulped before turning his attention to JJ next to him. "Uh, who had 11?" She asks.

       "Oh, I did." Emily raises her hand. Everyone in the room groaned and Julia shakes her head, "Lost in a landslide."

       "You originally gave her 24 hours to give her the benefit of the doubt." Luke pointed out and Julia rolls her eyes, "Shut up, newbie." She jokes, causing JJ to chuckle.

Tara's reunion with her brother was cut short because the man she had met with at the local coffee shop was not her brother, despite claiming that he was. He was hellbent that he was Gabriel but Tara had never seen this man in her life. She knew that something wasn't right and it caused her to get the team involved.

They had kept "Gabriel" in one of the interrogation rooms and Spencer and Tara had been coming back after putting him in the room. Emily, Garcia and Julia had approached the two in the bullpen as they came back.

"We can hold that man for 24 hours. After that we need to either charge him or let him go." Emily informed Tara. "Is Gabriel answering his phone?"

"This is his phone," Tara told, holding it up. "His contacts, his emails. Look at this. He was in the Capitol Hill District. And look at the time stamp. He's been in my backyard a month and he hasn't told me."

"Does your father know?" Julia asks and Tara shrugs, "Maybe," she tells. "I mean, I have to speak to him."
"Albert Lewis Body Shop. He's listed, right? I'll bring him in." Spencer offers, walking off and part of Julia thinks that it's because he can't stand to be in the same vicinity as her. Great time to overthink, brain!

Tara places the phone in a baggie for Garcia to take with her. "Okay, you two process that and break it down." Emily tells both Garcia and Julia.
"Aye aye."
"Sure thing, cap."

The two walk back to Garcia's lair and Garcia keeps her eyes fixated on Julia's face. It seemed like she was lost in thought and to tell you the truth, she was. Julia had been thinking about Spencer. Why couldn't he have been a rational adult and just talk to her like one? But of course, Garcia didn't know what the hell she was thinking. But she knew it had to do with Reid. Because they weren't acting the way they used to act. Where Julia would flirt and he'd blush. It wasn't like them. And maybe it had to do with Hotch leaving but Garcia was confused.

"Hey," she spoke once she began to process the cellular device she was given. "Are you and Reid okay?" Julia whips her head around and looks at Garcia with an incredulous look. "We're—We're fine. Why are you asking?" She knew why she was asking.

"I don't know," Garcia tells. "Something just seems off with you two. Can't tell what it is." Julia sighs as she runs a hand through her hair. "We're fine." She lies with a fake smile. "Oh, goody. I was worried my ship was going to sink."

Julia furrows her brows at her friend. "Garcia, you do know I have a boyfriend, correct?" She asks and Garcia shrugs, "Until I can put a face to Sir Thomas Beauregard himself, 'Spulia' shall still be a thing."

"'Sp—Spulia'?"
"Spencer, Julia—" Garcia puts her hands together. "'Spulia'. Kind of cute if you think about it."

Julia rolls her eyes, if only she knew.

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Emily and Rossi advised that Tara shouldn't go in to interrogate "Gabriel". So, Tara wanted to send in JJ to talk with him but he'd sworn up and down that he was Gabriel.

        Spencer had brought in Tara's father and he had informed Tara of a man her brother was staying with by the name of Carl Brubaker. And hopefully, that would help with their investigation.

        Garcia and Julia had done some digging at Julia's desk in the bullpen as Tara and Luke were on the phone with them, heading over to Carl Brubaker's address.

       "Okay, here's what I can tell you about Carl Brubaker. He does in fact live in the city, and the GPS on Gabriel's phone has been consistently there for the last month." Garcia informed. "So, he has been staying with Gabriel like your father said, Tara." Julia added.

       "Maybe he still, is but our unsub got ahold of his phone somehow." Luke stated. "With my brother it's never that simple," Tara sighs. "Something else is going on."

        "Guys, we're being set up." Reid told, walking towards the board they'd had in the bullpen.
       "What do you mean, Reid?" Luke asks.

       "The face in the driver's license photo displays perfect facial symmetry, I mean perfect, beyond what the human genome can produce." Reid leans over Julia's desk and over her shoulder and she stiffens a bit. "The picture's a computer-generated forgery."

       "Okay, but who would hack into the DMV and plant a fake—" Julia trails off as her and Reid exchange a look. A look Julia recognized because he had himself had gone through it. And the person that had done that to him was... Mr. Scratch.

        "Ohhhhh," Julia follows. "Yeah, you guys might wanna step on it."

When Tara and Luke had arrived, they'd heard Gabriel's yells, only to discover it was a recording on loop of Gabriel shouting Luke's name. Along that, they'd found three photos of him in different stages. One when he was a teenager and two of when he was an adult.

After discovering that Scratch had taken Gabriel, the team knew what they were up against.

Peter Lewis AKA Mr. Scratch was indeed back.

The team regathered as Tara went to go talk to her father. Emily walked through the doors of the office, "I've placed protective details on Hayden and Joy," She looks at Rossi. "Will and the boys," She looks at JJ. "And your brother and his family." And looks at Julia. "We need to assume that Mr. Scratch is targeting this entire team."

"You know, that could be why he had Gabriel screaming out my name. He wants us to know that he knows I'm part of the BAU now." Luke told. "Isn't his M.O. to drսg his victims and make them hallucinate? I mean, that happened to Hotch, right?" Julia asks.

"Then he evolved," JJ informed. "He's taking these victims with multiple personalities and brainwashing them with someone else's memories."

"So he took Tara's brother and did God knows what to get him to spill his life story, and then he planted those memories in the guy downstairs. The more memories he has, the stronger the identity he can create." Luke explained and JJ nods, "He must have put Gabriel's whole life inside of him."

"Well, the good news is we have a list from before." As Julia looks over at Garcia, she finds Spencer looking her way and quickly and turning to Garcia and Julia wonders how long he's been staring. Why is he staring when he's the one avoiding her? He has no reason or right to. Okay, Julia, calm down.

"Patients with disassociative identity disorder Scratch might target next." Garcia told. "Okay, cross-reference those against missing persons. The rest of us need to figure out how to deprogram the unsub safely." Emily stated. "He's still our best lead to Scratch and Gabriel."

"It's the pictures that are baffling," Reid said. And Julia wonders if he's playing that off because he was staring in her direction and the screen was behind her. "Scratch left them out specifically to call our attention to them." Relax, Jules, he's doing his job.

"He's a math genius," Luke comments. "He likes us to solve his puzzles." And Julia adds, "And those usually tend to lead to bigger traps."

"But it's the configuration that's strange," Reid stated. "The pictures are obviously of Gabriel at different ages, but normally one would arrange them in chronological or reverse chronological order. 15, 11, and 32 is a pattern that he wants us to see."

"Not us," Rossi shakes his head. "Tara. It's a pattern he wants her to see."

          Julia, JJ and Reid were sent to Garcia's lair to help her uncover the recording of the real Gabriel. "Pause the video," Garcia does so. "Zoom in on the wrist, Garcia." The video zooms to the red rope around Gabriel's wrists.

        "That rope, it's called shibari," Spencer tells. "It's an intricate form of BDSM bondage. The last time Mr. Scratch needed BDSM gear, he used a fake name. My name, actually, to buy it."

         "I'm not even gonna ask how you know that." Julia comments, looking towards the screen to avoid his gaze. But it's interesting that you do— Jules! He's a man with an IQ of 187 and an eidetic memory, meaning he remembers everything he reads, you freak!

           "Well, maybe he did the same thing with Carl Brubaker. It could give us another location Scratch is hiding at. Garcia, can you run financials?" JJ asks and Garcia nods, "Yes, I will. And my search of possible D.I.D. patients/ potential victims is going to give us a much needed break."

           Garcia furrows her brows as a certain name pops up on screen. "I know that name." And they deliver what they find to the team.

         "Here's the good news. I've confirmed that this man is Desmond Holt. He was diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder after his mother died and his stepfather started to make him play Russian roulette regularly." Garcia explains. "Jesus, talk about childhood trauma." Julia comments.

        "That's the good news?" Rossi asks. "Oh, yeah, because the bad news is I got a video from Desmond's therapist, Dr. Lawrence, who was very concerned when Desmond went missing. This is why."

          Garcia shows a video of Desmond laying on a couch and shaking as his therapist tries to stop him and calm him down. "She tried to get Desmond to recognize his other identities, he went into a disassociative break for six months."

         "So if we get Desmond to see he's not Tara's brother, we could end up doing the same thing?" Emily asks. "Oh, Dr. Lawrence is surprised we haven't already." Garcia said.

         Emily looks at Rossi. "You know the plan where we don't give the unsub what he wants?"
        "Yep."
        "New plan," Emily interjects. "We give him everything he wants."

         With that, Emily and Rossi walk out and Julia looks at Garcia, "I swear to God, she's so hot."

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Desmond/Gabriel had gotten a chance to speak with Tara and her father. And after getting Desmond to break through, Tara had gotten him to release his portrayal of Gabriel by calling him 'Desmond'. He'd given the address for where he was taken and where the real Gabriel was taken and that Scratch was planning on killing Gabriel with his father's gun.

   So, the team had been getting ready to go with SWAT to the address. "I'll coordinate from here." Rossi informs everyone. "GW emergency's on alert. The director wants a report if you catch Scratch dead or alive."

"Will do." Emily nods as she, JJ, Luke, Reid and Julia all head into the elevator. Tara exchanges a few words with her father before joining the team in the elevator.

No one said a word as Tara entered and she took a deep breath as she spoke out in a hoarse voice — "Thank you."

"Any threat against one of us is a threat to all of us." Julia comments.

There's a short pause when Emily finally speaks up, "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm getting tired of losing to this rat-faced son of a b¡tch. He's not gonna take anyone else away from us, not on my watch. Am I clear?"

"Hoo-ah." Luke hoots.
"Copy that." Julia agreed.

"Let's go to work."

It was soon enough that the team and SWAT arrived to the warehouse that Desmond said Gabriel would be in. No sign of Scratch or Gabriel so far as they held their guns up and searched the place.

"Clear!" Luke announced but Reid shook his head as he looked up. "Wait, hold up," He sees these three bars at the top. "That doesn't belong."

"Lewis, Alvez, Cortez, second floor. Reid, JJ, open that up, but don't disable anything until you get my go-ahead." Julia follows Luke as Tara and Emily go behind her and Luke opens the latch to the second floor door.

They're met with Gabriel, who's tied up with the shibari rope. There's a device with a chair and a gun pointed right at him. The vice was created that if you moved, it squeezed you or in this case, squeezed the gun it was holding at the moment. If he'd move at all, the gun would go off and kill him.

"Gabriel?" Tara asked as she put her gun in her holster. "You're gonna be okay. All right?" She assured to him softly as Luke and Julia got a look at the device.

"JJ, we found him. What do you have on your end?" Emily asks. "We found a power source. If we cut the right wire, it should shut down the vice." JJ tells.

The vice creaked and Julia looked at the red wire was fiddling with the trigger. Gabriel eyed the vice and Tara knew he'd panic if he saw it, so she advised him to keep his eyes on her instead.

"This rope is heavy." Luke pointed out and Julia leans towards Tara to whisper at her. "Just removing it will shift the weight and fire the gun."

"JJ, what have you got?" Emily asks, needing more answers. "We may have something. Hang on."
"We don't have time." Julia reminds Emily and the woman blinks at her, hoping that since it's Reid and JJ, they'll figure it out in a time crunch.

"We're gonna get you out of this, okay?" Tara assures. "We're gonna find a way." Gabriel begins to panic. "No, no. Don't move. Don't move. Stop. Stop!" The wire begins to pull and Luke shouts — "It's engaging!"

"No, no, no, hold it! Stop!" Tara yells and she quickly inserts herself in between the gun and Gabriel. Julia panics as the trigger is pulled but no bullets come out. Emily, Luke and Julia watch with wide eyes as they realize the gun wasn't loaded.

"Jesus..." Julia leans forward, putting her hands on her knees as she takes a deep breath to decipher what just occurred. If Scratch was trying to give her a heart attack at twenty-six, it worked. Luke takes this opportunity to cut Gabriel out of the rope.

"Wait a minute. Why would Scratch stage this?" Emily questions. "It's not in his profile," Julia spoke. "Unless..." Emily figured it out. "He's leading us into a bigger trap." Emily speaks into her mic once more. "Reid, JJ, look for another trigger."

And as if in cue, a banner reveals itself behind Emily and Julia. The wording on the banner says: Exodus 8:24. Julia speaks into her mic as she thinks quickly to who might know this. "Reid, what is Exodus, chapter 8, verse 24?"

"It's one of the plagues of Moses," Reid told. "'And the Lord did this. Dense swarms of flies poured into Pharaoh's palace. Throughout Egypt the land was ruined by the flies.'" He informs.

Emily looks towards the ceiling and then finds — "It's above us!" She announces. Julia looks up and sees that over a thousand nails are about to hit them at any point.

"There's a redundance switch somewhere. It's going off." JJ informs as Julia and Emily scamper to get the shibari ropes off of Gabriel. "We can interrupt it if we bypass the correct fuse."

"All right, this will only delay the trigger for a few seconds."
"All right, go, go, go, go go! Get him off of there!" JJ yells.

They take advantage of the few seconds and get Gabriel out of the chair and get out of the way as the nails hit the board that they were all just standing on. Julia sits up and looks at the damage.

"Is everyone ok? Is anyone hurt?" Emily asks and Julia shakes her head, "I landed right on my ass, but I think I'm fine." She tells.

Gabriel looks at his sister as he says, "Hey, T." Tara gives her brother a hug and holds him tightly and Julia looks at the damage and thanks God they all figured it out on time.

The good news was that Gabriel was reunited with Tara and their father. The bad news was that Scratch was still out there and that he was going to keep striking until everyone on the team was wiped out, it seemed.

hey lovelies!
this was kind of a filler chapter but oh well 🤷‍♀️
we'll talk more about reid and julia hopefully in the next chapter cuz i do plan on them having a lil discussion abt what happened 👀

and then the inevitable prison arc will come to be 🤭
aka one of my favorite reid looks because his HAIRRRRRRRRR ITS HAIRINGGGGGG 🤩

also
"sailor song" won the fanfic awards this year so this one was for y'all hehe 🤭🤭 thank you all for supporting and loving this story and helping me with plots (i'm looking at you erika bc this all came to be bc of you esote_rika 🫶) all the love is so so so appreciated you have no idea <3

anyways
last chapter of 2024 hehe 🥳
thank you for reading, i love you all
-mya <333