❝ mind if we join you? ❞

OLIVIA STOOD BEHIND JJ as she was seated at her desk, the two of them helping Penelope find a new place to live. On the previous case they worked on, Garcia had invited the team to her apartment as an apology for her behavior during the recent Floyd Feylinn Ferrell/Marcus Manning case, despite the team telling her she didn't need to apologize and they understood. Still, she insisted they all come over. But now, a new neighbor, among other personal reasons, inspired Penelope to move. JJ browsed through the pages of homes on the computer as Olivia found something that caught her eye, "Oh, wait, JJ, click on that one."

         "Oh, yeah, what about this one?" JJ clicked on the apartment Olivia saw and read the details aloud, "Sunny 2-bedroom, it's close to work, and it's in your price range." She then began going through the pictures of the estate.

         Matt walked by the three ladies, "Garcia, you're moving?" Penelope nodded as he added. "You don't like change." She turned her head to look at him as JJ and Olivia continued looking through the apartment. "Yeah, that's true, change is my kryptonite. But the apartment is no longer a sanctuary. I have a new neighbor, window's right here, and he enjoys doing naked kung fu. Some things you cannot unsee." She made a face at the disturbing recollection as Olivia quirked her eyebrows and Matt's were raised, glancing at the other two women.

         Penelope went on, "And besides, Sergio and I need more room for our things." This caught Luke's attention as he questioned, "Your cat has things?" She nodded in response.

         "Kristy and I can't take two steps in our house without tripping over the kids' toys." Matt spoke. "Tell me about it." JJ remarked as Olivia commented, "It's honestly still like that with the twins."

          Spencer joined in on the conversation, "Guys, I read about a guy in California who only has 79 items to his name, including his underwear." He excitedly informed. JJ reactively glanced at Liv as she shrugged and the two listened to Luke, who was speaking, "I am all for the living with only the things you really need."

         "Amen. Me, too, right?" Penelope said. The five profilers looked at her, remembering all the little knickknacks she has placed all around her desk and lair. She noticed their reaction, "What?"

          "How many fuzzy pens, unicorn statues, mermaid paperweights does one need at her desk?" Matt asked. Penelope glared at him, "All of them." They all smiled at her as JJ patted her knee and looked back at her computer and Penelope questioned, "What?", genuinely not knowing what they were talking about.

         Emily then came out of her office, "Garcia, round up Dave and Tara. We have a case." She walked to the round table while the team followed suit. When everyone was there and all seated, Emily started explaining, "Virginia State Police have asked for our help. It seems 3 young women have gone missing under similar circumstances in the last 5 years."

         "And why are we just hearing about this now?" Matt asked. Emily responded, "Well, our field office in Richmond was called in to consult, but they haven't been able to crack it and last night a fourth woman went missing."

          Penelope followed along Emily's information and pressed buttons on her remote for the screen, "Yeah, that would be Allie Leighton, 29 years old. She disappeared on her way home from work. Her car was found in a nearby parking garage by the restaurant where she's the head chef."

          "What time was this?" Olivia asked.

          "Just after midnight." Luke answered. Rossi spoke up, "Robbery doesn't seem to be a motive. Her bag was still there with her wallet and phone inside."

          "The same could be said for the disappearance of Dr. Roberta Childs, an obstetrician, in 2012." Penelope told. JJ read the file, "Yeah, she was last seen leaving work after the night shift. Her car and personal belongings were found inside the hospital parking garage."

         "Two different garages, but it could be the unsub's preferred hunting grounds." Rossi assumed. "Yeah, but it looks like the victim taken after Dr. Childs was abducted during a home invasion." Tara noticed. Penelope nodded, "Yes. Diane Pearl, 26, schoolteacher."

          Matt read his file, "In 2013, a side door was jimmied, setting off her home alarm at 11:52 p.m. Nothing was taken." Olivia then started reading a different section of her file, "In 2015, a dentist, Elise Waterston. She disappeared from her office after working late one night."

          JJ added on, "She ordered a rideshare, the driver waited, but she was a no-show." Emily stated, "So 4 young women go missing, late at night, in the same geographical area."

         "There's been no ATM, no cell phone, no credit card activity." Reid noted. Matt added, "And no ransom demands. These weren't kidnappings."

          Luke suggested, "Bodies have never been found. The unsub could be holding them." Emily thought, "Or he's good at permanent concealment." After reviewing the case, the team set up a clear dry-erase board in the room, where pictures of the women and crime scenes were hung up. "None of the missing women look alike, so the unsub isn't hunting a specific type." Olivia deduced.

         Emily sat down, "Okay, let's look at what they do have in common. They are all young, single, educated professionals." Rossi listed their occupations, "A doctor, a teacher, a dentist, and a chef."

"Well, the unsub could hold a grudge against accomplished women, especially if he feels inferior." JJ stated. Spencer thought, "You know, the unemployment rate in Virginia is only 3.7%, but if he's out of work, he might resent them for being better educated or making more money."

          "And you also need to throw rejection into the mix. I mean, this guy could be a jilted lover or feel frustrated by the type of woman he thinks he can't get." Tara added. Emily spoke to Penelope, "Garcia, any luck finding a connection between these women?" She shook her head, "Nothing on social media."

         "Were any of them dating or in a relationship?" Rossi questioned. Penelope's eyes stayed concentrated on her laptop screen, "Not that I can see. They haven't posted, you know, any typical romantic pics with a boyfriend or girlfriend." Olivia pondered aloud, "Assuming the women are still alive, the unsub would need a place to hold them; a home, warehouse, abandoned building."

         "He could be keeping them in multiple locations, in which case he most likely has a large truck or van." Reid suggested. JJ spoke up, "He appears to be a night owl. All of the abductions took place around midnight."

         "Could do shift work." Matt guessed, "Maybe that's the time he gets off from his job." Emily started giving out orders, "Matt, Dave, go check out the latest crime scene. Tara, Luke, talk to Allie's coworkers at the restaurant. Captain Skinner from the state police is on his way in. We will work the case from here."

         With Penelope's help, they were able to figure out the unsub also abducted female teenage runaways. JJ talked to a woman, Joanna Miller, who's sister went missing a few years back. JJ was able to realize that her sister, Chrissy, was in fact one of the victims abducted. And soon, the body of Dr. Roberta Childs was found and another woman went missing.

"What do we know?" Emily asked as she entered the conference room, where Matt, Olivia, Luke, and Spencer were. "The unsub struck again, this time in the open and busy parking lot." Matt told, as he played a witness' video on the screen. "JJ and Tara are still there. They found an eyewitness that caught the whole event on their phone." Olivia added.

The video showed the most recent victim storing bags in the trunk of her car as the unsub wafted behind her, taking glimpses of the clock that was mounted on the establishment nearby. "Well, it's obvious he's not abducting and driving at the same time. He's got a partner." Luke noticed. Then, the unsub placed a cloth over the victim's mouth and brought her inside his van as she attempted to fight back, but failed to escape his grip. "He took a lot of risk abducting in broad daylight like that." Matt stated.

"He looked at something before he took her. It made him hesitate." Olivia observed. "Matt, rewind the video a bit." He did what she said and Olivia studied the video more carefully. "The digital clock in the background, he abducted her at 11:57 and 30 seconds. He waited until that precise moment before he grabbed her."

"Yeah, but this was during the day. All the other abductions took place close to 12:00 midnight." Matt thought. Luke responded, "Well, clocks strike 12:00 twice a day. Maybe it's not a.m. or p.m. that matters."

"The numbers 11:57:30 might mean something to him." Emily assumed. Spencer spoke, "It could be an address, a code, it might even have religious significance." Garcia then walked inside the room with a report, "Police IDed the latest victim. Paige Burrell." Emily read the report, "Paige is 35, single. Guys, she's a pediatrician."

"The unsub lost a doctor, so he took another." Olivia stated. Matt followed, "But he still needs a doctor's specific skill set." Luke added on, "Which means that our missing women and their children are still alive."

After sharing more thoughts and suggestions, Captain Skinner came back to the BAU for an update. Spencer called JJ back into the room as they all explained to the Captain their findings. Spencer started, "We said the timing of the unsub's abductions may be important to him."

"Why is that?" The Captain asked.

Spencer continued as he pointed to the board behind him, "Victim number one — Dr. Roberta Childs. She signed out of the hospital at 11:50 p.m. Now, victim number two, Diane Pearl, her home alarm system was tripped at 11:52 p.m. Victim three, Elise Waterston, she was a no-show for an 11:55 p.m. pickup from her dental office. Cellphone records show that Allie Leighton, the fourth victim, ended her phone call at 11:57 p.m. And lastly, Paige Burrell, the digital clock where she was abducted read 11:57 and 30 seconds."

         "Okay, so based on your timeline, our unsub's counting up to 12:00." Tara summarized. Spencer corrected, "No, he's counting down."

         "Counting down to what?" Captain Skinner questioned.

          "I think the unsub's abducting women based on the doomsday clock." Spencer replied. "And what's that?" Skinner asked. Rossi answered, "It's the symbolic clock that warns the world how close we are to total destruction."

          Olivia explained, "Midnight on the clock represents a hypothetical global catastrophe, like a nuclear war. The number of minutes to midnight stand for how soon that could happen." JJ continued on, "Since 1947 when a group of atomic scientists created the clock, the minute hand's been reset many times."

          Reid explained further, "For the last 5 years, it's been consistently ticking down. It was last set at 2 1/2 minutes to midnight." Emily added, "And the closest it ever was, was 2 minutes in 1953 when the U.S. and Russia tested the first h-bomb."

         "We could be looking at a doomsday cult." JJ suggested. "So he's like one of these survivalists who lives in the woods and wears tinfoil hats." Captain Skinner responded.

          Luke corrected him, "Actually, the idea of preparing for the end is moving from the fringes of society into mainstream culture." Matt voiced, "Yeah, they call themselves preppers. They're trying to retain a certain standard of living for themselves and others while riding out the apocalypse, be it nuclear or civil unrest."

           "The wealthy are jumping on board. They're hoarding crypto/currency and buying survival shelters." Rossi spoke as Matt continued, "And the super rich are taking it to another level. They're buying private islands, land in New Zealand, their private jets are always gassed up ready to whisk them away at a moment's notice."

          "So, the victims are part of the unsub's prep to repopulate a new civilization in the post-apocalyptic world." Emily concluded. "And the clock starting to tick steadily down 5 years ago was the trigger."

         "Yeah, and with it being so close to midnight, and us breathing down his neck, he may decide that it's time to cut all ties from the outside world." Olivia guessed. Emily stated, "We need to find him before that happens."

───── ⋆✩⋆ ─────

Soon, the team was able to identify their unsub, Lawrence Coleman. Penelope sent them the address of the storage locations he had rented in the last five years. Emily, Matt, and Luke went to the storage units and Tara, Olivia, and Rossi went to his work. Both groups found nothing and as they checked in with Reid and JJ, they found that Lawrence wasn't at his house either. Garcia was able to figure out Lawrence's partner, Irene Jacobs. She owns acres of land just outside where she resides. Spencer and JJ were able to arrive there first as they were the closest ones.

The two found an underground base that blended in with the ground beneath them. When they both searched around the underground area, they were suddenly trapped in the hallway they were in. When the other two groups did arrive on the land, they looked for Spencer and JJ as they couldn't reach them via cellphone. The two saw Allie Leighton and Paige Burrell with Irene in their grips. The two agents tried to get the code from her, but she wouldn't tell.

It wasn't until Lawrence and the other women he's kidnapped appeared on the other side of the glass next to Reid and JJ. JJ was able to get through to Chrissy by mentioning her sister and telling her that the world has not gone to shambles and ruins. Irene then gave in and told them the code, the glass doors opening back up to allow Spencer and JJ to go out. Lawrence and Irene were arrested as the other women and their children were led back outside, where Chrissy and Joanna reunited along with Chrissy's son, Joe.

Afterwards, the team went back to the BAU, where they packed up their belongings by their desks. Penelope entered the bullpen with her things as well, "Oh my gosh, I was so worried about you guys being in that bunker. It made me very claustrophobic." She then glanced at JJ and Olivia, "We need to look for an even bigger apartment for me. Even bigger." Emily and Rossi walked out of their offices as JJ responded, "Sure. The three of us can look tomorrow."

Matt spoke, "I gotta say, Coleman's bunker was pretty impressive."

Emily replied, "Yeah, but not where I would want to spend my last day on Earth." Matt then asked, "Yeah? Where would you?" She responded, "Never thought about it."

"And I don't want to think about it." Penelope commented.

Tara piped up, "I would definitely be on a beach." Luke chimed in, "I think I'd prefer the mountains."

"I'd be with my family." Matt smiled. JJ agreed, "Same." She then looked at Olivia, "Liv?" Olivia thought about it for a moment, "Probably my childhood home with the twins. How about you, Spence?" She said. He answered, "Paris with my mom. She likes Paris."

Tara pressed the button for the elevator, "You know, something tells me Dave has this all planned out." The elevator dinged and its doors opened as the nine of them stepped in. Rossi told, "Don't you know it. When the end comes, you'll fine me at home enjoying a meal of Carbonara Alla Rossi, and if there's still time, I will adjourn to my patio to partake in a Double Jack and a vintage Don Carlos."

"That sounds great." Luke remarked.

"Mind if we join you?" Emily asked.

Rossi nodded and grinned as the rest of the team smiled. The elevator doors closed, bringing them to the parking garage, where they all got in their cars and stopped by Rossi's home to recreate his perfect end-of-the-world scenario.

ANGIE'S NOTES ☺︎︎
bye bc i love this episode sm
and also i might update a lot today and this
weekend so😁