(Lexie POV)

I was sat in my seat on a Skype call with Mia as she was holding Jack. "I can't wait to see you all again." I say and Mia smiles as Jack giggles and we awe at him. Emily then walks over. "Hey Emily." Mia says and Emily smiles. "Hi Mia, is that little Jack?" Emily questions and Mia nods. "My nephew and godson." I say and Jack giggles again. "He is absolutely adorable Mia." Emily says. "Thank you Emily." Mia says. "Where's Rossi? He owes me coffee." I say and Emily chuckles. "He's at a book reading." Emily says. "Which book?" I question. "His own." Emily says and I sigh. We then see someone walk in. "JJ!" I exclaim and she laughs as I go and hug her. "Ah! I missed you so freaking much." I say and she smiles and hugs back. "I missed you too Al." She says and she walks over to my desk and sees Mia. "Is that JJ I see there?" Mia questions. "Is that Mia? With a baby?" JJ questions and I laugh and nod. "JJ this is my nephew and godson. Jack!" I say and JJ coos at the screen and Jack gurgles and giggles. "Aww." Mia, Emily, JJ, and I say. "I gotta go Mia, I think we got a case today." I say and I laughs. "Alright, bye Lex. Say bye to Tia Lexie." Mia says and she makes Jack wave his hand and I smile. "Bye Nieto." I say and I blow a kiss as Mia hangs up. JJ and I then go to Garcia's cave and after many greetings and laughs and smiles JJ showed us some pictures. Morgan was there too.

"This is Henry wearing the booties my mom knitted him." JJ says showing us a picture. "I can't get over his cuteness." Garcia says. "Oh, and this is him wearing the customized leather jacket auntie Penelope and Lexie got him." JJ says and Garcia and I smirk. "When he grows up, he's gonna be a rebel." Garcia and I say and JJ laughs then the phone rings. "Is this David Rossi, the famous bestselling author David Rossi?" Garcia questions into the phone. "What are you doing? You're not supposed to be calling on your annual leave." Morgan says. "I think my A.L. Just ended." Rossi says. "What do you mean?" I question. "Garcia, Cleveland police is sending you some files. Get JJ to distribute them to the team right away." Rossi says. "Yeah." Garcia says and I look at JJ. "You're back?" I question and I hug her again. "Not that I didn't like Jordan and all I just really missed you." I say and JJ laughs. "I get it Lexie." She says holding my shoulders and I laugh. "What are we looking at?" JJ questions into the phone. "I don't know yet. Just see if the team can find a connection with these crimes. I'll call you back in a few hours." Rossi says. "Yes, sir." I say and he hangs up. 

Eventually the files come in and JJ makes more copies and we go to the briefing room. I sit between Emily and Hotch and we listen to JJ. "The crimes are within a 7-mile radius." JJ says standing up. "Well, that's something." Morgan says. "Yeah, but the neighborhoods are all completely different. They range from poor to rich, industrial to residential." Emily says. "The physical locations are dissimilar, but the operating zone's well-defined." Hotch says. "Ok. I'm in." Garcia says to the phone where Rossi was on the other line. "I see you." Rossi says. I stand up and kneels down to look at the computer Garcia is on. "In your web browser for search history." Garcia says. "Check out her home page." Rossi says. "All right, so the first thing she looks at when she opens up her computer is a crime column." I say. "Probably to stay current on her studies." Morgan says. "Can you see what she worked on last?" Rossi questions. "Voila. These are the most recently opened documents she created." Garcia says and Spencer leans over. "Looks like she was compiling empirical data about homicide trends in Cleveland." Spencer says. "Do you think she knew the killer?" Emily questions. "I don't see any notes indicating suspects." Rossi says.

"Well, Dave, she's a criminology student. She's been taught to analyze statistics and apply theory, not investigate killers. Let's talk about what we know." Hotch says. "All right. Victim one-- Travis Bartlett was last seen at a gay bar. Victim 2, Lily Nicks, a 34-year-old prostitute, her throat was slashed. Victims 3 and 4, June Appleby and Troy Wertsler, Were shot in their car at a parking lot outside of a movie theater. And victim 5 was a 28-year-old single woman, Kayla James, killed in her home. She was bound, suffocated with a bag over her head, evidence of rape." JJ says switching through different pictures. "And then the sixth victim was Zoe." Emily says. "Victimology, weapons used, and C.O.D. are all different." Spencer says. "It's hard to imagine it's even the same unsub." I say and Spencer nods in agreement. "It can't be a coincidence that Zoe goes to Kayla James' house and gets murdered." Rossi says. "All right, let's say it is the same killer. Does anybody see a pattern?" Hotch questions. "Well, maybe. Ok, the first crime, he shoots the victim. The second crime, he rapes a woman and slashes her throat. That's more personal. And the third crime, he escalates to killing two people, And the fourth, he escalates even more by raping a woman, binding her, and suffocating her." Emily says. "So if it is the same unsub, you could argue that there's a progression of violence with every kill." Hotch says. "It could be an anger excitation offender getting more daring with each crime." Spencer says. "I think I got something here. Look at this. The slashes in the prostitute's throat-- They're all shallow, unsure cuts. The kayla James crime scene-- telephone cord, rope, and duct tape were used. It like he couldn't decide how to bind her. So without a gun, he's sloppy, inexperienced. The young couple shot in the car... That crime scene remind you of anything?" Morgan questions. "Yeah, they were shot with a .44 bulldog, just like the son of Sam used on his victims, which were also young couples in parked cars." Spencer starts.

"It might be nothing, but you're right, there is a parallel there." Spencer finishes. "With the second victim, it's hard not to think of Jack the Ripper. The obvious similarity being it's a prostitute whose throat was slashed." I say. "Kayla James was bound, tortured, raped, with a plastic bag over her head like BTK." Hotch says. "What about victim number one?" Morgan questions. Garcia, what neighborhood was he found in?" Rossi questions. "At a park in the Kingsbury run area." Garcia says. "Zoe reminded me last night that Cleveland's most famous serial killer was the butcher of Kingsbury run. He found his victims in gay bars, shot them, and dumped their body there. Travis Bartlett was last seen at a gay bar, and his body was found in Kingsbury park." Rossi says. "So these are copycats of famous serial killers?" I question. "He's a serial killer studying serial killers." Rossi says. "See you in Cleveland, Dave." Hotch says. "Wheels up. Now." Hotch says and we rush and grab our to-go bags and we go on the plane. There was no talking on the plane, only silence and studying.

Once we got there we went to the the station. "Guys." Rossi says as we walk in. "Hey, Dave." Hotch says. "We're in that room. Coffee's brewing." Rossi says. "We'll get started on the evidence boards." Spencer says as I walk next to him, my navy blue trench coat trailing behind me. "Detective Brady's our point. I'll let you all introduce yourselves." Rossi says and we nod and walk over to where Detective Brady was. "I know it may seem farfetched, but copycat killers are not entirely uncommon." Hotch says after we all introduce ourselves. "This one happens to be copying several different killers." Morgan says. "But if he's trying to be the butcher of Kingsbury run, why didn't he cut up and mutilate the victims like the real guy?" Detective Brady questions. "That was 7 weeks ago. He was just getting started." Emily starts. "Beginning killers are often frightened of the crime itself. They're more interested in getting it over with as quickly as possible and fleeing the scene." I say putting up more pictures. "He was just using the butcher's ruse as a way to lure the victim to be alone with him." Morgan says. "And by the time he killed Kayla James 3 days ago, he'd progressed. He came very close to copying all of the BTK's M.O." Emily says. "He's reading, learning, borrowing from others because he doesn't know who he is yet." Spencer says. "And because of this, we think he's young and impressionable, maybe even a student." Morgan says. "Someone probably enrolled in criminology classes. Our technical analyst is going through names of local students right now." Spencer says.

"Up to this point, changing his M.O. has prevented investigators from linking the crimes. That's why we need to work quickly." Hotch says. "You're sure about this?" Detective Brady questions. "It's not a coincidence that all of these random, Violent murders in a localized area are copycats of serial killers." I say. "It's as if all the worst serial killers have converged on Cleveland. Every time he plans to kill the murder weapon, the M.O., and the victimology will all change." Hotch says. I was on my phone calling Mia. "How's the case?" Mia questions. "Weird and exhausting." I say and she laughs. "You need a break." She says and I laugh. "Maybe, but other than that only if I get maternity leave." I say and we both laugh. "I gotta go." I say noticing Hotch walk in, I hang up and I sit in my seat. "You guys handle the profile?" Hotch questions putting the file down and before he can walk away Morgan speaks up. "Yeah. Everything okay?" He questions. "Everything's fine." Hotch says and he leaves the room. I raise a brow and we walk towards the conference room

"We have 6 homicides in a 7-mile radius in east Cleveland. Now, this small zone indicates that's he's a geographically stable offender." Morgan says. "This type of offender is characterized as young, socially immature, Of average intelligence, with psychopathic personality traits." Emily continues. "They also usually live alone and have an antisocial nature." I say. "A serial killer's first murder is very telling. This unsub's first murder, he chose the M.O of Cleveland's own butcher of Kingsbury run." Spencer says. "The butcher isn't as well known as other famous serial killers, but he is a local legend." Emily says. "And because he picked the butcher to be first, We believe he's a native of Cleveland and probably grew up hearing stories of the butcher." Morgan says. "This is someone who is obsessed with serial killers. His computer will be filled with research on them." I say. "He'll have abundant images of murderers on his computer and possibly even snuff films. He uses these like pornography. The provide some sort of sexual release." Spencer says. We finish the briefing and we get a call. "There's another body." Hotch says ad we get in the SUV. "JJ, there's another body." I say and I hear her tell someone I assume is Rossi.

We get to a ravine and we see a few officers bring a man up. "They're bringing him up right now. Teenagers found him a little over an hour ago." Detective Brady says. "It's petechiae in the whites of his eyes. Judging from the bruising, he was probably strangled with a wire." Spencer says shining his flashlight on the man. "Is this our guy?" Brady questions. "It's gotta be. A jogger doesn't get garroted every day." I say. "Whatever signature he left was probably washed away in the water." Spencer says. "Well, who's he mimicking now?" Brady questions. "Bike path rapist Altemio Sanchez comes to mind. He trolled bike paths near buffalo garroting his victims. It looks like he copied everything except for the rape." I say standing up. "Strangulation's a repetition of his last murder of Zoe. First time he's repeated himself." Morgan says standing up. "Zoe's murder was spontaneous, though. He didn't plan it. He acted on instinct and did what came naturally to him." Spencer says. "Maybe what came naturally felt good him and he wanted to feel it again." Morgan says. "If he's starting to repeat a pattern, he may have found himself." I say and they all look at me as I look down at the body. 

(Time Skip)

It was the next day. Rossi and Hotch called Spencer and I in the conference room and we were looking in the files. "See anything else in there?" Rossi questions. "Just the notations of an observant student." Spencer says and I look over. "I've been thinking, though. Zoe got all of her information from the newspapers and from Paula McConnell's column. There's no way she could have known about every homicide in the city." I say. "Well, not every homicide's reported in the papers." Hotch says. "So how do we know the unsub didn't commit more murders than the ones noted in her journals?" Spencer questions. "We don't. We can check missing persons and see if anyone was last seen in the unsub's operating zone." Hotch says and Spencer passes me some files and I look through them. "What?" Spencer says and I look up to see Rossi staring at us. "Well, a young person's mind is so active-- yours, Lexie's, Zoe's, and I imagine this unsub's, too." Rossi says. "I think when he get him, he'll be curious. He'll ask questions." Hotch says. "Rossi, heads up. She knows." JJ says motioning behind her and a woman walks in. "Did you do this? I don't need or want your money. I have taken care of my daughter for 22 years, and she is still my responsibility. I don't need any help from you. You didn't even know her." The woman I assume is Zoe's mother says. "I'm sorry if I've offended you." Rossi says. "Just leave us alone." Zoe's mom says and she rushes away. "All right. We found another body. East Cleveland. Strangulation marks." Brady says and we follow him as we drive to the site.

"This was recent. The bruises on her neck are still reddish." Spencer says as we look over at the woman. "No other obvious signs of trauma." Hotch says. "Well, this isn't a bike path like the last one. Which serial killer is he mimicking now?" Brady questions. "I don't think he is mimicking anymore. He's starting to show consistency. I think he's developing his own style." I say looking over. "Has anybody touched her?" Hotch questions. "No. They have instructions to wait for us and the M.E." Brady says. "Where's he?" Hotch questions. "Dr. Edwards! Here he comes." Brady says as a man walks over. "Hi. Agent Hotchner. Um, could you take a look at this spot on her forehead?" Hotch questions and the doctor kneels and looks at the spot. "That's strange. Let me swab it and get it back to the lab." The doctor says. "Thanks." Hotch says.

After a while it was night and I was sitting on my bed reading a book. My phone rang. "Hello?" I question. "Hey Lex, we have a possible unsub." Spencer says and I get ready and I leave my room and I go down where everyone else was. We got in the SUV's and we drove to an apartment building. Morgan busted the door open and we raised our guns and we looks around. "Clear! Clear!" Officers shout. "Reid, Ortiz, check the computer. Detective, we should talk o the neighbors, find out where he goes, Where he might be on a week night." Hotch says. "Aaron. He's reading my books." Rossi says. "Reid, Ortiz, anything?" Hotch questions. "Al's alehouse. That's like 5 miles away." Brady says. "It's on the schedule for tonight." I say. Everyone else leaves but Spencer and I look around and continue investigating. "Reid." Hotch says through Spencer's phone. "Hotch." Spencer says. "I need something, anything that might show where he was trolling for more victims." Hotch says and I nod looking through him computer some more. After a while of investigating Spencer calls Hotch. "We've been through everything." Spencer says. "He marked up Rossi's books. Check the bookcase. Maybe he was scouting for locations to commit more murders." Hotch says. "Pictures." I say looking at the photos on the wall. "What?" Hotch questions. "Framed photographs in his hallway. Nothing else... Nothing else is framed. They look like originals." I say looking at Spencer. "Let me call you right back, Hotch." Spencer says. "Ok." Hotch says and Spencer hangs up. "These have got to be clues." I say taking a photo off the wall and flipping it over. I walked over to the computer as Spencer brought the photos over. I looked through the folders again.

"Wait look." I say and I look through the photos in the folder. "This wasn't easily visible." Spencer says and I nod. Look, these match." I say holding up the frames to the computer. Spencer then calls Hotch. "We found pictures on his computer in a special folder he created. They're scenic places in the city. 3 of them we recognize from his crime scenes. There are more pictures of places we don't recognize." Spencer says. "Email them as soon as you can." Hotch says. "All right." Spencer says and he hangs up. Eventually teams were sent out to go find the bodies and I walked out Spencer by my side. "You okay?" Spencer questions and I nod with a smile. "Yeah, you?" I question and he nods. "Definitely." He says and we walk down the street holding our vests in our arms. "When we get back we should have a Dr. Who marathon." Spencer says and I nod. "I need one of those." I say and he chuckles. We walk back to the hotel and I get to my room and Spencer goes to his. 

(The Next Morning)

I got dressed in a red tank top, and green cargo pants. I put my black boots on, grabbed my luggage, and I walked down to the lobby. I made my coffee and I sat down by my luggage. "Morning." Spencer says and he sits next to me on the couch. "Hey." I say. "Want me to bring the snacks?" I question and Spencer nods. "You two are up early." Morgan says holding his to-go bag and a cup of coffee. "We're always up early." We both say. Morgan just nods. "My place?" Spencer questions and I nod.