"𝗡𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗲𝗹𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗹𝘀, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗮 𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗱𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀, 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗴𝘂𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝘃𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝘀𝗸𝘀, 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗸𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗼𝗳𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲"
-𝗙𝗿𝗮𝘀𝗺𝘂𝘀

-----

𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗡𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗻 - 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝗲

Valentina was sat at her desk when Spencer came in with a halloween mask on and a small pumpkin basket of candy on his arm. Val and Emily chuckled when he managed to scare Morgan "Happy All Hallows' Eve, folks. To paraphrase from Celtic mythology, tomorrow night, all order is suspended, and the barriers between the natural and the supernatural are temporarily removed"

"See, that right there is why Halloween creeps me out" Morgan stated.

"You're scared of Halloween?" Spencer asked, Val looking over at him as she awaited his answer.

"I didn't say I was scared, I said I was creeped out" Morgan pointed out before going back to the files on his desk "There's a difference there, youngster. You should look it up"

"What creeps you out so much?" Valentina asked the question Emily was thinking too "I don't know, people wearing masks. I don't like folks in disguises" He shook his head as Val smiled.

"That's the best thing about Halloween. You can be anyone you want to be"

"No, I'm pretty good just being me"

"Yeah, why is it that neither of those points of view surprise me?" Valentina chuckled at Emily's statement before taking a sip of her coffee "What about you Val, you like Halloween?"

She nodded, placing her cup back down "Oh yeah it was a big deal in my house even when my dad was deployed, me and my mom always went full out with the house and everything" She smiled as the memories passed through her.

"Your dad was in the army too?" Spencer asked with curiosity. She nodded in reply "I had to follow into someone's footsteps"

"You know what, though? On the flip side, it does provide a pretty good reason to cosy up with a scary flick and a little Halloween honey" He grinned, pointing and winking at Valentina.

"Halloween honey? Now I'm creeped out" Emily grimaced when Spencer whispered "Guys, he's here"

The group turned around to see David Rossi walking up with Strauss in front of him. He smiled at them as he walked past. It wasn't long before he was walking down the steps and towards the team with Hotch next to him.

"SSA David Rossi, this is SSA Emily Prentiss"

"Sir" She shook his hand with an excited smile on her face.

"SSA Derek Morgan"

"It's an honour, Agent Rossi" He too shook the man's hand. Rossi nodded with a smile and shook Derek's hand "Please, just Dave"

"Doctor Spencer Reid"

"Sir, if I could talk to you later about your work with the Scarsdale Skinner? Psycholinguistics is an incredibly dynamic field, and the fact that your profile of his reading habits ultimately led to his capture is something I find so incredibly. . ." Spencer ranted.

"Reid, slow down. He'll be here for a while. Catch up with him later" Spencer nodded at Hotch's words before apologising.

"No problem, Doctor" Rossi nodded with a smile.

"And this is SSA Valentina Ortiz" He smiled at the female agent as they too shook hands "It's amazing to have you back here sir"

"It's good to be back. You were in the Marine Corps if I'm not mistaken?"

Valentina nodded "I was indeed" Rossi smiled as he looked at the woman with admiration and nothing else "Then I thank you for your service"

She smiled "You too"

"Hey, maybe you guys can talk on the jet" Hotch referred to Spencer's rambling a few minutes ago.

Rossi's smile fell "The jet?"

"We have a jet now" Hotch smiled "It comes in pretty handy. Come on JJ's waiting" Hotch walks towards the conference room, Emily and Rossi following behind him as Derek lightly shoved
Spencer's head.

"Knock it off boys" Valentina said in a joking tone, giving them a smile before walking away. Morgan couldn't help but let his eyes wander as he watched her walk away, his eyebrows raising as he liked what he was seeing.

"Carrollton, Texas is a suburb just outside of Dallas" JJ starts as everybody sat down at the table, the case files already in front of them "Four days ago, Michelle Colucci found this flier on her front door" It then came up on the screen of Michelle's face with the words 'HAVE YOU SEEN ME?' on the top.

"She found it?" Derek asked "Meaning she wasn't actually missing?" Valentina continued.

"Yet" JJ said "She took the flier to a friend's husband, Detective Yarbrough at the Carrollton PD, who told her it was probably just a Halloween prank and he sent her home"

"Well, I don't blame him. Halloween brings out the fool in everyone" Valentina playfully rolled her eyes at Derek's words.

"Still, he stopped by Michelle's house later to check on her" JJ sighed "The door was open and when he went inside, he found this" She then showed them the inside of Michelle's house which had her fliers plastered all over the walls "Still thought maybe it could be some kind of a prank, until yesterday"

The photos of the crime scene and the body of Michelle Colucci then came on the screen "Michelle was found floating in a small creek just outside of Carrollton. She had been sexually assaulted. And her face had been removed" Valentina's jaw clenched in anger at what had happened to this poor, innocent woman.

"Removed?" Rossi asked "It wasn't animals or fish?"

"The Dallas County ME said the edges of the wounds were smooth, not torn. A very sharp instrument had been used. He also found water in her lungs" JJ explained.

"Oh, my God!" Valentina turns her head at the sound of Garcia's voice while the blonde was using a case file to hide her eyes from looking at the screen "What is that?"

"Technical Analyst Penelope Garcia, this is SSA David Rossi" Hotch introduced the two.

"Is it gone, JJ?"

After switching the screen to a photo of a couple of dishes in a kitchen by a sink "Yeah. Yeah, yeah. You're safe" JJ assured with a smile as she sat back down.

"Okay" Garcia then finally put down the file "Just to erm. . .Carrollton, Texas has nearly 117,000 residents. A diverse population with a. . .well, it's all in there. I'm sorry. Very happy to meet you, sir" She leant forward slightly to shake Rossi's hand "I'll be in my office" She went to walk out when she realised the door "Door. Sorry" She apologised again, quickly shutting the door behind her.

"She's different" Rossi looked at Hotch with a small smile "You have no idea"

Emily started to think "So, the UnSub tells her she's going to go missing to psychologically torture her, then tortures her psychically. Textbook sadist"

"A sophisticated one" Hotch added "That's elaborate"

"Number one" Derek looked at the picture of the white mask that had the word 'one' written at the top in red "That particular mask is known as a false face. It's most commonly worn during Halloween and Mardi Gras" Spencer told them all.

"Creepy" Derek deadpanned, dropping the photo back onto the table "I rest my case" Valentina let out a small chuckle.

"False face"

"Her face? He mocks it, then destroys it?" Emily theorised.

"Oh, and, Hotch, local media has the story. It broke big" JJ informed him.

"Tell Carrollton we'll be there first thing in the morning. Let's stop this one at one" Hotch told her "If you want to take some time to get situated, maybe start on the next case?" He said to Rossi, gathering the files in his hands.

"I'm not back to get situated, Hotch. I'm here to work" Rossi finalised as they then both stood up from the table.

"Everybody get your things together. We're going to Texas"

-----

"Let's go over victimology. Would you like to join us, Dave?" Hotch asked so Rossi got up from his chair and walked over to the couch before taking out a small notepad and pen.

"Reid, what have you got?"

"Michelle Colucci was single, lived alone. No boyfriend and no ex-husband" Spencer replied.

"Dating?" Valentina asked "Nothing in the reports" Derek looked up from the papers in his hand.

"She was an architect, friends and co-workers says she's a classic work-alcoholic. Basically a loner who rarely went out of the house" JJ told them.

"So, she's extremely low-risk" Emily thought.

"If it wasn't someone she knew personally, it's possible she was being stalked" Spencer said while Rossi just wrote things down in his notepad when he muttered "Interesting"

Spencer frowned "What's that?"

Valentina looked at him to see he was quite surprised that Spencer had called him out "Oh, I'm just thinking out loud"

"Something to add?" Rossi shook his head "No. Sorry to interrupt"

"Well, she's pretty" Valentina shrugged, looking at the few papers she had in her hand "Could be that the UnSub met her casually and made her part of some fantasy"

"And he tries to act on it and she rejects him?" Hotch added in.

"So he tortures her. Out of anger?" Emily asked as Spencer looked at her "Masks often represent a state of mind. This one's blank, expressionless. Doesn't really coincide with anger"

"Reid, it's hard to imagine he did this out of anything less than rage" Derek held up the photo of Michelle's face when Garcia's voice came from the laptop.

"Hey, guys"

Val smiled "Hey, Garcia. You got something for us?"

"A list of Michelle Colucci's clients. She designed office space. Mostly big cooperate remodelling plans"

"No private clients? One-on-one contacts?" Hotch then asked.

"Doesn't look like it. No"

Derek sighed "Thanks, baby girl" He said before ending the call while Rossi was still writing in his notepad.

-----

Valentina, Derek and Emily stepped out of the SUV as they looked around the neighbourhood "These houses sure are close together" Derek observed.

Emily nodded in agreement "Exactly so how do I get a woman out of her house without anyone seeing me?"

"He watched her for a while" Valentina said "Knew the exact time to grab her and that it would be safe"

"There isn't a lot of cover on this street" Emily said as the three turned around to face the road.

Derek looked at Valentina and Emily "I have a vehicle"

"Big enough so I can watch without being seen but not too big as to draw attention to itself" Val added in.

Emily shook her head "No. Neighbour's will notice a strange vehicle parked in front of their house day after day, night after night"

Derek nodded "It's human nature. You would notice something out of place in your own neighbourhood"

"And you would defiantly notice a man constantly standing on your street meaning he didn't watch from here" Valentina sighed.

The three agents had look around and were now stood in Michelle's backyard "This is where I'd wait"  He said from his hiding spot in the bushes.

"Perfect" Valentina called, walking over to where he was with Emily behind her "Would never be able to see you from the house"

When they got to Derek he was still looking around and that's when he found something "Guys, he was here a lot" He pointed to the very clear footprints in the mud.

Emily looked back up at the house "Watching everything she did"

"Sick bastard" Valentina mumbled.

-----

Valentina, Emily and Derek were now back in the SUV with the lights on as they raced to the El Royale Motel in Dallas. The team had called and said that's where Michelle had been hiding out.

However, when they arrived Michelle wasn't there except her missing pictures sprawled out all over the bed with another white mask with number two written in red.

"Twenty minutes. We were here in twenty minutes. I can't believe we lost her" Detective Yarbrough said as he came walking out of the motel room.

"We may not have lost her. He kept Michelle for four days" Hotch explained while Rossi was writing in his notepad again.

"But we've got nothing"

"That's not true. Look at the difference in the scenes"

"What do you mean?" He frowned "There's a mask and there's flyers"

Valentina came walking out with the flyers she bagged as she turned around to face the three men "Yeah, but these flyers weren't tacked up. They were just thrown around the room meaning he left in a hurry like he knew we were coming"

Derek came walking out next with the phone Michelle had used to ring them "Okay, this was under the bed. A927 area code"

"That's Carrollton. The hotline number"

Emily's eyes went wide at the realisation "She used her cellphone"

"You can get any cell interceptor at any electronics store" Derek told Detective Yarbrough.

"You can?" He asked in shock.

Valentina nodded "Yeah, they don't cost that much. He probably sat right out here and heard everything she said"

"But if he followed her here from Dallas, why wait till she calls us to move on her?"

"To make sure it was the police who found the mask" Emily said.

"We need to gather your men and give a profile" Hotch stated as they all nodded and made their way back to the station.

-----

"He's a white male. His shoe prints have been examined, and put him at about 5'11," 165" Derek said.

"So, we've narrowed it down to anyone of average weight and height?" Yarbrough asked.

Derek nodded "Exactly"

"There's a sophistication and patience in what this UnSub does that suggests a level of maturity. We believe this puts his age in the mid-30s to 40s range"  Emily spoke.

"Michelle Colucci was taken from the primary crime scene and disposed of at the tertiary crime scene four days later. That means she was held somewhere for at least three days. You can't really just hold a victim anywhere for days on end, so he most likely has access to a house of some kind" Spencer continued.

"And he's also fairly tech savvy. The fliers were made on a computer and it's probable that he used a device to intercept Enid White's phone call"

Valentina stepped forward slightly "Witnesses in Enid White's neighbourhood say they may have seen a white man putting up fliers, but none of them could describe him, even with all the media attention this case has received"

"Great" One of the detectives in the precinct sighed.

"Actually, what that tells us is that there is absolutely nothing remarkable about this man. He is exceedingly average" Emily explained.

"As you said, Detective Yarbrough, average height, average build" Derek then said.

"It extends to his professional life as well. He mostly likely works in a field where he doesn't stand out" Spencer shook his head "Doesn't really make a mark"

"His lack of distinction is part of his psychology. We have hundreds of interactions with people every day. Most of those involve someone overlooking someone else. Most of us don't pay any attention to being ignored. But, to this kind of UnSub, each oversight is intentional. Especially when it comes from the object of his sexual desire. He begins to obsess over her until she's all he can think about. And the rage builds up until he has to attack that person" Hotch stood up straight with his hands in his trouser pockets as he spoke.

"So, he's pissed off that nobody notices him?" Yarbrough asked like he couldn't believe someone would do something like that.

Hotch nodded as Derek then recited what was on the fliers "Have You Seen Me?"

"Wait, that's not about the women?" The same detective from earlier asked.

"No, the masks are about the women" Valentina replied "Number one, number two. The flyers probably refer to him"

"Removing his victim's faces transfers his feelings of being ignored into a mission and it gives him a sense of power"

Hotch then continued from where Spencer left off "And the power can make him arrogant, but it doesn't make him notable"

"So, how the hell do we catch an invisible man?" Yarbrough asked with his arms crossed.

"I'm pretty sure we can get him to contact you" Hotch told him "What?"

"The crime scenes show he wants to deliver his message to the police. He isn't going public"

"Hopefully by playing on his anger..." Hotch stopped talking when he saw what was on the news. It was the white mask. The mask nobody should know about but them "JJ, how'd they get that?"

"Not from me. I-Hotch I called all the local police departments and I stressed withholding the mask" JJ said and you could tell she was telling the truth.

"I called them" Rossi came walking in the room.

Everyone frowned as they stared at him "What?"

"I said the FBI thinks the masks mean he's impotent" Rossi had a small smile on him as the whole team just looked at him dumbfounded.

"Can I speak to you for a second?" There was no room for debate as Hotch was already walking out of the room when he asked.

-----

"Garcia, talk to us" Derek put her on speaker as they were now all back in one room.

"Michelle Colucci recently drew up the plans for a remodel of three floors of a company called Techco Communications. It's a hi-tech communications company in downtown Dallas"

"And Enid White?" Hotch asked.

"Worked there until two months ago" Garcia informed. Everything was starting to add up.

"He's on two" Detective Yarbrough quickly walked in.

"The UnSub?"

"Demanding to speak to the FBI" Rossi looked at Hotch to say he was right before putting the guy on speaker.

"This is FBI Supervisory Special Agent David Rossi" By the tone Rossi was using Valentina didn't like were this was going.

"You called me impotent"

"Did I?" Rossi asked in fake confusion.

"I am not impotent"

"Why are you whispering?"

"You lied. You lied"

"Is someone around you. Are you at work?" Rossi then asked as the team were all stealing glances at each other nervously.

"You have to tell the news the truth"

"I'll get you on the news and you can correct me yourself"

"No, you, you, you correct it" You could tell he was panicking now.

"By the way, I was looking at the police security tapes for the day Michelle Colucci went missing"

"What?"

"You watched her long enough to know she didn't have visitors. She was a loner. Yet you knew that Detective Yarbrough was coming over. You must have been right here in this station when he told her.  Now your face is going to be on one of those tapes. And when I find it, I'm going to paper this city with it, just like you did with those women. Everyone will see it. They won't be able to ignore you now. But you won't inspire fear. You'll inspire hatred and ridicule, because the only power someone like you has is a mask,"

Hotch knew this had gone on long enough as he tried to tell Rossi to stop but he wasn't finished "And once that mask is removed, you'll be insignificant as you've always been. A loser"

"You just signed Enid White's death warrant"

-----

All lights were blaring as the team and the city's police department raced down the streets of Dallas "Lieutenant, I need you to lock the Techco building down tight. Nobody in, nobody out. It's vital" Hotch said into his radio.

"Rossi, you really think the UnSub's still going to be there after that call?" Derek asked as he turned around in his seat slightly to face the man.

"Of course. He thinks he has all the time in the world"

"You think they got an image off the police security camera yet?" Hotch asked him through the rear view mirror.

"The security camera doesn't work. I lied about that"

"You lied about that?" Valentina asked as she tried not to laugh.

"He doesn't know"

"Dave, that was incredibly reckless"

"Hotch, he didn't weigh the body down well"

"What do you mean?"

Rossi went on to explain as three agents listened intently "He didn't want Michelle found so quickly. He screwed that up. This kind of guy, when he plans something, if he has the time, if he's in control, he's meticulous. But being on the edge of the river, out in the open, he was not in control. He was in a hurry and he made a mistake"

"That's what you're hoping" Derek corrected him.

"Trust me. With an UnSub like this, you need to throw him off his game. His hand needs to be forced" Yet Derek was still looking at him like he was crazy.

"I know that, Dave. But the point is you did it by forcing ours"

-----

"Is the building sealed?" Hotch asked when they walked in the building that was already swarming with cops and detectives.

"Top to bottom" Detective Yarbrough assured.

"Yarbrough, make sure it stays that way" They then continued walking as they saw all the people that worked there "Garcia, which floors did Michelle Colucci model? Got it. Seven, eight and nine. Morgan, take seven. We're looking for a rank-and-file employee who made a scene in the last twenty minutes, or was here and gone. Prentiss, eight. Reid, nine. Don't approach him. Just try to get a name, maybe a picture"

Everyone nodded as they all started to split up while Hotch, Rossi and Valentina stayed on the ground floor "He's somewhere in this lobby" Rossi announced.

"What?"

"Can't you feel it?"

"Display your credentials. FBI" Hotch told them as they both took out their badge wallets and put them on their jackets so everyone could see them.

"He thinks we know what he looks like" Valentina whispered. Hotch took out the 'Have You Seen Me' poster as the three agents looked at it before looking around the room at everybody, waiting for the UnSub to panic and flee the group of people.

They were making it pretty obvious as they walked past people with the posters in their hands and their badges on display when a guy wearing a suit started to leave the crowd. Rossi nodded at Valentina before they slowly started to trail behind him as Hotch's phone rang. It was Reid.

"Sir?" Rossi asked as his and Valentina's hands rested on the guns that sat on their hips.

"Sir would you turn around please?" Valentina asked as the three agents took out their guns.

"Max Pool" Hotch then called out causing the man to stop in his tracks "We have your address, Max. There's no place to go"

"This is Agent Rossi, Max. If you do what you're thinking, you won't get to tell them I lied. Come on, Max. Slowly put your hands on top of your head"

"Listen to him, Max" Valentina said as more officers came up behind them with their guns drawn.

"I know what you're thinking, and you don't have do it. It doesn't have to end here, Max. Please" Rossi pleaded but Max still had his back to them. It was like he was waiting for something or someone. All of a sudden, Morgan came walking out the elevator doors with no clue that Max was already taking out his gun.

"Down!" Hotch shouted but Valentina had already leapt forward and tackled Derek to the ground, their weapons quickly drawn at the man once they were on the floor but he was down as Hotch took the gun from him and checked his pulse "You two okay?"

"Yeah" Derek said as he was still in shock. Valentina nodded at him before turning her head to face Morgan "You're welcome by the way"

Derek let out a light chuckle "Yeah thanks Val"

"He's gone" Hotch stated, looking up at Detective Yarbrough.

"What about Enid White?" He asked.

"We have his home address"

"Is she there?"

"Let's hope so" Edin White was in fact there at Max Pool's address as she was taken out on a stretcher, with Detective Yarbrough holding her hand, and placed into an ambulance.

JJ was dealing with the press, Rossi and Hotch were talking to the police on scene while Spencer, Morgan, Emily and Valentina were standing with the kids from the neighbourhood that were all dressed up for Halloween as Spencer handed them all some candy from his bag before they all got ready to go home.

-----

Walking into the BAU Valentina was talking with JJ, Morgan, Spencer and Emily when she heard her name being shouted.

"Val! Val!" She turned around to see Gabriella running towards her with Sarah and Micheal a few steps behind her.

"Gabby! What are you doing here?" Valentina asked, hugging her back after she raced right into her open arms "Well don't you look amazing" Valentina nearly cried when she saw the costume Gabriella was wearing.

"Your boss called and told us you when you were landing" Micheal informed her "And you and erm, Noah always took her trick or treating so she wanted to come and see you before we went"

Valentina turned her head to look at Hotch and gave him a small but appreciative nod and a smile. He nodded back before going into his office with Rossi following behind him.

"So Hotch does have a heart" Morgan joked.

"Derek!" Gabby practically shouted, running over to the man with her hands in the air signalling that she wanted to be picked up. He smiled and hoisted the girl up to rest on his hip. Since Gabriella had been coming around the BAU frequently or just going out in general she had been seeing the team a lot but the person she bonded with the most was Derek.

"Someone's missed me" Derek said as he took in her costume. She was wearing an army costume with all the works including the fake ammo, the gun, the helmet, everything. And for a split second Valentina thought she was looking at Noah "Well don't you look like you're ready to join the army. Hey Val, I think she could give you a run for your money here"

"I think you're right" Valentina smiled "You look just like your brother"

"I do?" Gabby asked with a smile that could light up the whole room.

"You do baby" Val then adjusted the girls helmet slightly before looking over at Micheal and Sarah "Do you guys mind if I join you for trick or treating?"

Sarah shook her head and smiled at the agent "Of course not honey, we'd love for you to come"

Micheal smiled too "Just like old times"

Valentina chuckled and picked up her go bag off the floor and slung it over her shoulder when Gabriella asked the unexpected "Wait can Derek come too?"

JJ and Emily very quickly looked down at the floor as they bit their lips to hide their smiles. Valentina looked at Micheal and Sarah and they seemed okay with it "Well, erm, you'll have to ask Derek if he wants to go. I heard he's not really a fan of people dressed up"

Gabriella looked back at Morgan and hitting him with her best puppy dog eyes "Derek will you come with us pleasee? Everyone loves halloween"

"All right kid you've convinced me" Derek laughed as he bent down slightly to pick up his work bag "Lets go get some candy" They said there goodbyes to the team before walking away.

"You seeing this too right?" JJ asked Emily as they watched Derek and Valentina with Gabriella.

"Oh yeah I do" Emily smiled when Spencer cut in "See what?"

JJ looked at Emily and let out small laugh before going over to her desk as did Emily "What, what did I miss?"

But JJ just waved him off with a smile "Nothing Spence don't worry about it"