Archive of Our Own

"Okay, so he started killing December last year. between victim two and three, he took a break. what is that, twenty four days without killing?" Morgan said, studying the whiteboard now. "He's controlled, might be escalating though. Chelsea was pretty beat up, so either she put up more of a fight. Or he was angry."

"I wouldn't be too sure, there was no evidence of sexual assault on any of the victims.. she might honestly have been a victim of opportunity. But we can look into it, have Garcia look into two things. one, any men in the Joseph - Enterprise area who are 6'2, wear thirteen inch shoes. Those are all our unsubs. Then have her find any guys Chelsea knew." Prentiss suggested.

"Actually, we talked to Chelsea's parents. She has an ex boyfriend." Hotch said as he stepped in. "Jennifer is still with her parents, but she has an ex boyfriend. Lives here in Joseph, works in Enterprise. Call Garcia,"

Morgan pulled his phone out and turned it on. "Hey baby girl, you're on speaker" he said

"Hey hey my fine friends, what can this lovely oracle do for ya?" She asked

"Two things" Hotch started. "First, our latest victim had an ex boyfriend. Parents said his name was Finley Schuler. Can you get us information on him?"

"Okayy, ex boyfriend, totally not snooping but I wonder why they broke up... finley... schuler...." They could hear her tapping the keys before she made a little 'pop' noise.

"Found him, Finley Schuler. Twenty years old, August eighth nineteen eighty nine. He's six three, I can getcha his address, work address and phone number in a minute. anything else?" she asked.

"Yeah, Garcia, all the males in Wallowa County." Emily started

"Okay, males, Wallowa country, Emily girly I love you but Imma need a whole lot more than just 'males in Wallowa county' because that's like.. three thousand five hundred and six," Garcia said snorting.

Prentiss laughed a little, "As I was saying, those who are from Joseph Oregon and Enterprise Oregon, that's where all our victims have been from."

"Right, males from Enterprise and Joseph oregon.... That's about one thousand five hundred and thirty six." Garcia said. "Anything else? cause uhhh that's still wayyyy too much for my lovelies" Spencer hummed for a moment before speaking "ages between nineteen and thirty." 

"One hundred twenty three. Anything else like... height or a record...." she mused.

"Well, we estimated our unsub had thirteen size shoes, so that would make him above five ten, so can you narrow it down to that Garica?"

"Okay, andddd your number drops to twenty." Garcia beamed. "And Chelsea's ex boyfriend is on that list"

"Yeah, we'll talk to him." Morgan said. "Can you send us all twenty of those guys?" "Already done"

"Thank you baby girl," Morgan responded, hanging up the phone before turning back to the team. Reid had already looked through all the files. "Ideally, I think we should narrow it down to those who have criminal records. But, Finley Schuler doesn't have a criminal record, not even for a petty crime or anything like that."

"How many have any sort of criminal record?" Morgan asked, walking over to Spencer and looking over his shoulder.

"Four." Spencer said.

"Let's still talk to all twenty of the men Garcia found." Hotch said. "But, we can prioritize the four who actually have criminal records. Based on our profile, he takes them to the woods and he hunts them. So he's strong, he's athletic. There's no evidence of sexual assault, so he's killing for the thrill. Which is probably the worst kind."

"Great...." Prentiss said sarcastically.  "Killing because it's fun, that's probably the worst thing there is"

One of the cops knocked on the door, "hey, Chelsea Monoke's mom, she called Chelsea's ex boyfriend. Asked him to come here and he just arrived." Morgan and Hotch glanced at each other. Then Hotch stood, "We're already thinking that he might've done it, or at least killed Chelsea but the motive was exactly the same as all the other kills so we need to do three things."

"First, we should talk to Chelsea's parents, see what we can learn about Finley Schuler before he speak to him. Secondly, we need to speak to him, Prentiss, you look most like Chelsea, you're going to talk to him." Prentiss nodded, "and third. Let's have Garcia look through Finley's history, see what his possible trigger event could be."

"Let's get goin" Morgan said, Prentiss went to the break room where Jennifer was with Chelsea's parents to see what she knew or had found out. Prentiss needed to know about him so she could properly interrogate him. As far as she knew, he was a little older, just a month or some. So he wasn't a major 'authority' compared to her.

JJ glanced over her shoulder when the door opened. "Miss and Mr Monoke, this is Emily Prentiss, i assume she's her to talk to you, ask you about Finley"

Emily nodded, "I am," she said sitting down besides Jennifer.

"Do-" the mother sniffled, briefly covering her mouth. "Do you think Finley is the killer?" she asked.

"Not exactly ma'am. We're just trying to rule it out. Can you tell me about him, how he acts?" She asked.

"Well, uhm. Finley has always been a nice boy.. He runs a bakery that's been in his family for decades, he's a very shy boy, always has been. He doesn't really like authority, uhm, didn't talk about it much. But his father was awfully mean to him and his daddy was a cop." She sighed, pushing some hair out of her face.

"But he was a polite boy.. He and my sweet girl Chelsea broke up about a week before she... passed. She came home crying her eyes out. I don't know what happened, but she was talking about how he betrayed her.. I didn't know about the details,"

"God, my husband, he wanted to go smite him. She was crying so hard," she sighed, her eyes starting to water. "I have no clue why they broke up. I'm sorry I can't be of more help" she added.

"No, don't blame yourself. You just lost a child and I can't imagine what you're going through, we will find who killed your daughter okay?" JJ said, gently taking one of her hands and squeezing it lightly. The mother sniffled and dabbed at her eyes with a cloth. "Thank you, really." She said. "Best of luck. I do have to get going." She said.

"Of course, we'll call you if we find anything." Emily said, "Jennifer will walk you to the door." She added.

JJ and the mother stood, leaving the room. While Prentiss left the room to go speak to Finley. "Hotch," Prentiss said, stopping by the room. Nodding towards the interrogation room. "Hm?" Hotch stood and walked over, stepping out of the room with Emily. "What's the plan?" he asked.

"So, Mrs. Monoke said that Finley Schuler is not a fan of authority. I figured we could probably use that, do some bad cop good cop. My idea was that I look most like Chelsea so we could use that and you can be fairly intimidating.." Emily explained.

"That's a good idea. We can probably work it. Who do you suggest be the bad cop?" He asked, Prentiss stayed silent before explaining. "My initial idea was to have me be the bad cop. Maybe see if he gets angry. We could start with me pressuring him, and then I apologize and soften." Hotch nodded, "lead the way."

Emily nodded and moved to walk first. She reached the room and entered, holding the door open for Hotch. The boy sitting at the table looked like he'd been crying. The rim of his eyes slightly red. His hands were on the table, fidgeting slightly. Just tapping his fingers together in a repetitive motion.

He looked up when the door opened, his eyes went to Prentiss first. They watched his expression shift slightly. Discomfort. Maybe a bit of grief. But he blinked it away and looked back down at his hands. "Finley Schuler?" Prentiss asked, he glanced up briefly and nodded. "That's me."

"We'd like to ask you a few questions," she said, her and Hotch sitting down beside each other. "So, how long were you with Chelsea?" Hotch asked, leaning forward a bit, his hands on the table. "uhm, we went to school together.. Started dating our junior year.." He mumbled. "about three years,"

"Three years? Her family said you were lovely together," Prentiss said. Glancing at Hotch and giving him a subtle nod. The boy still wasn't making eye contact. "So why did you break up? You were high school sweethearts, people saw you around town a lot. What was it, did she cheat on you?" he asked.

"No, we just, weren't getting along" he said, briefly reaching up and scratching the side of his neck. "hm. So did she piss you off? Do something that made you want to hurt her. Did she say something that pissed you off or was your ego getting in the way and she didn't want to be with you anymore so you killed her?" Hotch asked.

"what? no- I didn't hurt her?" Finley looked up, making eye contact for the first time. Though he seemed confused. Maybe even a little hurt. "I wouldn't hurt Chelsea, I loved her. Why would you even think that?" he said.

"'loved' past tense, so what, you were using her?" Hotch suggested.

"No! We broke up because we weren't getting along, I still loved her but I couldn't be with her, what other word was I supposed to use?" He snapped. His eyes flicked downwards and he licked his lips. One hand coming up and pushing some hair out of his face. "Look. We just weren't working out"

"What problems were you having?" Prentiss asked, putting her hand briefly on Hotch's shoulder. Silently telling him to take a step back. Finley sighed. "We'd been together for years, and I really did love her, but..." They saw Finley's eyes glance down, and he chewed at his lip. "I have a best friend, and I think I'm gay... so I broke up with her. Because I didn't think it was fair to her to be dating someone who was gay and didn't love her anymore." He said "So, we broke up." he said, "that's it."

Hotch glanced at Prentiss. That.. wasn't something they'd anticipated. "How did she react when you broke up, how did the conversation go?" Prentiss asked. Finley sighed, "A week ago, I invited her to my house. I made dinner, it was uh.. Ratatouille, ya know.. the meal with the vegetables...

"I wanted to tell her in person.. over text felt shitty I guess. And we were having dinner and I told her, tried to be gentle that I thought I was gay.. and even though I cared for her and loved her, I couldn't see myself dating her any longer.. Much less marrying her especially because she had expressed the fact that she wanted to marry and have kids one day.." he said. He glanced down at his hands.

Tanned, slightly veiny but not bulging. Freckles dotting his arms and fingers. They were unharmed. No injuries, no bruises. Further on his arm, at the wrist, forearm. Were pale and faded cuts. If he had any injuries they'd healed.

"I broke up with her, and she didn't take it all that well. She was disappointed, kinda sad I guess. She slapped me, and then I asked her to leave and she left and that was the last time I saw her. She didn't come to the bakery."

"She slapped you? did you file a police report?" Hotch asked.

"No, I didn't think it was worth it, I guess, she was mad, and I kinda understand, I broke up with her cause I loved someone else.." he shrugged.

"Okay. So, you didn't kill Chelsea. Just broke up with her.. So, you loved someone else. Did you cheat on Chelsea?" Prentiss inquired. "N-no I didn't cheat, I loved her I wouldn't cheat. Nothing happened between me and him when I was dating Chelsea.." he said

"How about the other victims?" Hotch asked. "Lucas O'Brein. Amelia Jane, Alexander John,"

Finley looked up, his expression slightly different. A little confused, nervous. Uncomfortable maybe. "I guess I met them.. a few times. I own a bakery, in Enterprise. I get a lot of customers from the surrounding areas. Uhm. I could look at my records, I've been digitizing them lately." He said,

"How about Elias Row, Maya Monroe, Lila Allan?" "uh yeah... I guess, they might be in there as well, I didn't kill anybody I don't.. know why you're asking me this." he said firmly. But then seemed to regret it and shrank back a little, his hand scratching at the same spot on his neck. 

"So, you own a popular bakery and you keep records. Can we see those records?" Prentiss asked. Adjusting her tone to be a little softer. She knew he didn't like authority. It was showing in how he acted. 

"Yeah, I should be able to get them for you, uhm... is that.. everything?" he asked.

"Yeah. Should be everything. Just don't leave the county." Prentiss said.

"Yeah.." He said "uhm, I'll try and get those to you tomorrow.. does that work?" he asked

Hotch and Prentiss shared a glance before nodding. "Yes, that works." Hotch replied. Hotch stood and pushed the chair in, Prentiss did the same. "I'll walk you out Mr Schuler," she added. He glanced up at her. "oh, uh thanks..." he said giving a small nod.

Prentiss glanced back at Hotch and the two walked out the room. She watched Finley for a moment before speaking. "Hey, I'm sorry if my co-worker was a jerk. He can be like that. Hope he didn't scare ya too badly?" Finley glanced at her for a brief second. "no.. no uh, it's fine." he said, glancing upwards towards the door. Prentiss looked up and noticed it was raining.

"Do you have a car?" she inquired. "yeah. I do, it's outside, in the parking lot." He responded.

"Well, drive safe. You can deliver the files here tomorrow whenever." She said, opening the door but not following him out. He nodded and mumbled his thanks before stepping out into the rain and walking over to a car that was maybe, ten feet from the door to the right. 

Simple car, dark blue. Nissan Altima she guessed. Not flashy, not spendy. Little dingy compared to some of the other cars in the parking lot. She noticed the license plate. Four Five Apple Lion Five Two, she turned and grabbed a note pad and jotted it down. Probably send it to Penelope later.

She turned and walked back to the conference room where everyone else was. "Did you tell them everything yet?" she asked Hotch. He glanced at her and nodded. "Let's run it back and then, probably deliver our profile."

"Okay. So what do we have?"

Reid spun in his chair and gestured at the board. Morgan spoke. "Eight victims, all different ages, gender, appearance. Tells us our guy doesn't have a specific type." "Additionally," Reid started, "there's no sign of sexual assault. Nor is there many links between the victims other than they all live in this town. Garcia also found no criminal record for any of them."

"Our unsub is organized. He manages to get the victims into the woods without anyone else seeing. So he's most likely not mentally ill, doesn't have any deteriorative condition in general. Just, sadistic... He's a hedonistic killer. Worst kind." Rossi stated with a sigh. 

"I mean unless we're missing something," Morgan quipped. Leaning back in his seat a smidge. "So far we're not." Rossi retorted, glancing at him.

"Yeah, there's evidence along with the coroners report. that whence he gets them into the woods.. he chases them? Means he's athletic, young." JJ mused, moving to sit beside Reid, glancing over at the board. 

Hotch was nodding, "All sounds good- Morgan, is there anything we're missing?" "Nah, was just fucking with him," he responded, raising his hands in surrender. Spencer coughed, hiding a laugh. "Uhm, I think we should have a press conference. Let them know who we're looking for." He suggested.

"Good idea." Rossi said. "JJ, you ready?" She glanced up, nodded. "Yeah. Just, advising the people about who our suspect is right?" Hotch nodded. "That's correct."

"Then, yeah, I'm ready. I'll go talk to the detective, get it set up." she stood, fixing her hair, getting it out of her face. "Emily, I'd like you to stand behind me during the press conference." Emily smiled up at her and stood. "Sure thing,"

"Alright. Press conference then," Hotch checked his watch, "We'll go back to the hotel for the night. It's five oclock. Getting late. We need to eat and sleep."

──ᨒ↟ 𖠰──

"huf- fuck" he gasped. leaning against the tree. Trying to catch his breath. He looked down at his watch and smacked it, pressing the button that illuminated the screen a fraction. 00:57.

And he was lost. Had no clue where he was. The woods were just... suffocating.

Dark, seemingly endless. The trees were tall enough that he couldn't see the sky. He could hear rustling and birds. But couldn't tell what direction they were coming from and he knew directions he'd practiced being able to tell what way a- a sound was coming from. He could usually tell. He could tell oh that siren is coming from north west.

He's panicking. He feels hysterical. His heart is racing. Feels like he can't get enough air in his lungs. He's an athletic dude. He's won a race before. Did track in college.

It was supposed to be a normal day.. Around noon today, he, his wife. Their two kids- Lucy and John, they'd all gone camping. Was supposed to be fun. They'd gone to near Diamond Lake. Up in the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. And they had. Clear lake. Really gorgeous. He'd taken a swim briefly. It had been really cold. He and his kids had set up their two tents and then he'd made some box macaroni with a hot dog from the cooler.

He and his wife had sat with their feet in the water for a little while. Was great.

Everything went wrong later that night. It must've been around nine PM? They'd gone to sleep around eight. Bit early but, they'd hiked for hours and it was tiring. He'd gotten up and had needed to take a piss. Wearing his jacket and some sweats. His wife had stirred. Groggy. He'd told her he was fine, just had to go out. Said he'd be back in a few minutes. She fell back asleep pretty quickly.

He'd gone to the tree couple feet away, behind a bush. But he'd heard a noise. Dismissed it as some small animal. It was whatever.

Then, he heard this low, rumbling growl. Initially he thought fuck it's a bear. Black bear probably. He knew there were some in Oregon. He turned. squaring his shoulder. Remembering the tactic. Black bears are wussies, you yell, make a ruckus. You'll intimidate them they'll screw off.

But he turned and it was two large wolves. His brain faltered. He didn't know if you could intimidate a wolf, especially two. He knew there was a wolf pack in the mountains, moved between here, Washington and Canada. But, he hadn't expected them.

Both were large, maybe what three, four feet tall. six feet in length. Massive. Gray wolves are the biggest species and those were... bigger than the average.. One was a pitch black, shaggy fur. It's growl was a low rumble. Slightly more aggressive than the other one. The other had slightly longer fur, dark brown, it's growl was louder than the other one's.

The black one had snapped it's teeth at him first.

And now he was here. In the middle of the woods. He'd been running for.. a long time now.. His chest was starting to hurt and his legs were burning.

He heard a low whistle. "Damien?" Someone called, drawing his name out. "You're getting slow" 

HIs head snapped to the left just before the brown wolf lunged at him. Jaw snapping down over his arm. He screamed. Trying to shake it, but the wolf shook itself harder. Tearing up his arm and growling, it stepped back, yanking him to the ground. His vision blurred from the pain and he saw someone step out.

The brown wolf unclamped it's teeth and looked up at the man. Letting out a small whine of sorts. It dipped it's head, sniffing at him lightly and let out a low sound. "Cmon, let him run a bit.." The man said to the brown wolf, his hand reaching down and running through it's fur.

"please please let me go-" he panted scrambled back from the wolf and man. Neither responded but they stared at him. As if they wanted him to get running again. So they could.. chase him. He might puke. But he scrambled up and started running even though he was loosing blood and honestly getting sorta dizzy.

He didn't look back and veered right, trying to shake them. He didn't know where he was anymore. "Help! Someone help!" he yelled. Looking around a little, he heard water? His heart jumped to his throat. "Someone!"

He burst out of the treeline.  Stumbling and falling onto his face. He looked around, seeing a lake a few feet in front of him. But, he didn't see anyone else. No other campsite. The black wolf appeared in the treeline. Stalking towards him, the brown one jumped out and landed behind him. The brown wolf walked over, taking charge. And studied him for a moment. He looked back at the tree line but... didn't see the man? Had he been hallucinating?

"Please" he pleaded. raising a hand weekly and pushing at the wolf's snout. That should deter it. Wolves should be afraid or at least wary of humans... Right? The black wolf just stared down at him.

Then the wolf's gaze shifted upwards. Ahead of them. It's ear flicked. The brown wolf looked over and saw two standing there. A male and female. 

"oh my god..." the woman gasped. "B- benjamin-" she stammered. Grabbing her husbands arm. The husband looked between his wife and the two wolves. "Hey! Scram!" The man said, raising his voice. Trying to be intimidating. He pulled his shirt up and grabbed his pistol. The two wolves glanced at each other, then at the man. Who was now pointing his pistol at them. He fired a warning shot to the air.

That finally got the wolves to turn and dart back into the forest. The woman ran over to the man on the ground, "oh my god Damien," she said, her hand going to his cheek. "Benjamin call the rangers, his pulse is weak, I need a tourniquet." The woman tried to calm herself. Her nurse training kicking in.

"Yeah- yeah here, here's the bag Carla.." Her husband, Benjamin said. Crouching beside Damien. He pulled his phone up and dialed. It rang for a bit but someone picked up which was good. he gave his name, read the coordinates from his Garmin and said they were near a lake, Monkshood Lake if he remembered correctly.

"You need to hurry, our friend, Damien Marks- he was attacked by these two wolves... he's bleeding badly. My wife is a nurse but she can't patch him up."

"Okay baby, they're on the way, Damien, cmon stay with us." He said, patting Damien's face, trying to keep him awake.

──ᨒ↟ 𖠰──

The forest whipped past them, he could hear small animals. The birds chirping, rabbits skittering, even the smallest insects buzzing as they flew past. The wind whipped at them, through their fur, pushing it back flat against them.

They burst through a clearing, skidding to a halt towards the foot of the mountain. A creek nearby, but it faded to background noise. The black wolf stretched, form shifting. Paws shifting to fingers, arms stretching out. Legs shifting with a slight pop in the joints. "oh- ow" he mumbled as his arms, shoulders, knees and hips popped as he stretched his arms above his head.

He dragged a hand down his face, rubbing at his eye. The brown wolf followed suite. The man now stepping forward. "That was reckless, Finley.. we almost got caught." He said, hand reaching out and lightly resting at the other man's throat. Pressing him back to the tree.

"It's okay. They just.. saw some wolves" He responded. A smirk crossing his face. "We really should get back, I have to get those records to those federal agents." he added.

The other male sighed. "love that.. you gotta be careful.. With the feds, maybe we should take a little break with them here?" he suggested. "It's fine Matthew... Hey after all you killed just two days ago..." He retorted, rolling his eyes slightly. "yeah yeah.. whatever." Matthew mumbled.

"I'll see you tomorrow. Might stop by the bakery if it's open. But.. we gotta be careful. Don't wanna get caught." Matt added. Finley nodded, glancing up at Matt and smiling. "Get home safe yeah?" "You too,"

──ᨒ↟ 𖠰──

There were three heavy knocks on the door.

"ugh... fuuck... what time is it.." Morgan groaned, his hand reaching out and landing on the side table by the bed. Finally finding his phone. He pulled it to himself and flicked it open. Half past one am.. "What the fuck man.. Hey, Reid, wake up" he said, tilting his head to look at the other bed.

"hm?.. wha?" Reid yawned, briefly squeezing his eyes shut. "whose knocking?" Reid asked, sitting up. Watching Morgan get up from the bed, Morgan adjusted his shorts and grabbed a tshirt, pulling it on. He opened the drawer of the side table and pulled out his hand gun. He held it at his side and glanced through the peep hole.

"It's hotch," Morgan said, relaxing a bit and putting his hand gun down, opening the door with his left hand. "Hotch, what's.. dude, it's fuckin one thirty, what's wrong?" he asked.

"There's been another victim." Hotch said with a sigh. "He's alive. There were two witnesses, and paramedics arrived. we've got work. Get dressed. you have thirty minutes, we're meeting at the Wallowa Memorial Hospital, but there's a safeway. So, get some coffee and food."

"Right..." Morgan mumbled. "Spence, you catch all that?" "yeah.." Spencer said, standing up and walking over to his go bag.

The two got ready while talking about what they'd grab for breakfast. After they got dress they went out into the parking lot. To the car. JJ, Prentiss, Rossi and Hotch were all out by the cars already. JJ tossed Morgan the keys. "Drive nicely." She said, smirking a little.

"JJ, I'm hurt. I always drive nicely." Morgan retorted. Walking to the driver side door. "Safeway?" he asked. Got a few nods in response. JJ and Reid hopped into the car with Morgan. While Rossi, Hotch and Prentiss got into the other SUV. Was less cramped that way.

They stopped by Safeway and got some breakfast. Mostly just bread.. Some coffee and headed to the hospital. It was just a six minute drive or so. Meant they'd have time to eat their breakfast and learn who the victim was, and the details of the crime scene and then.. figure out who would do what. 

"It's gonna be a long... fuckin day.." Morgan said as he got out of the car. "Yeah.." JJ sighed, closing the car door behind her.

They walked into the hospital together, being led to an empty family room with some big windows. Not that there was much to see. It was pitch black outdoors. "You can see a lot more stars out here than in DC," Emily said. Taking a bite of her food.

"Yeah.. if we weren't on a case I probably would've stayed out star watching," JJ said, "yeah. I probably would've done the same thing. Jack would probably like the stars" Aaron said.

"Oh the kid totally would" Rossi said, "Carolyn loved the stars" he added with a small smile. "Oh what wife was that? Number six?" Morgan retorted. "Ha. Ha. Very funny" Rossi deadpanned.

The group shared some laughs before they got to the files now that they'd finished their food. "The victim was attacked by wolves?" Morgan blurted, looking down at the file. "I thought detective Rowan said the wolves were wary of humans and left them alone?" 

"Really a wolf attack?" Reid asked, leaning over. "Even globally, wolf attacks are extraordinary rare, they only cause just about one or two deaths a year.." Reid said.

"That's what the witnesses said?" Rossi asked.

"Yeah, says here they saw two wolves. One had black fur, kinda shaggy. Said it's size was about fifty two inches height wise and seventy two length. The other had brown fur and had a bit longer fur, said that one was forty eight inches in height and seventy two in length" Morgan said. Looking up at Reid, anticipating a statistic as always.

"That's larger than average. Well. The height is. Most gray wolves are around four to six feet in length and have a height of twenty six to thirty six inches." Reid supplied.

Emily looked stunned. As did JJ. "Yeah.. yeah that's pretty massive," She said. 

Morgan noticed Reid staring at the file. Could practically see the gears turning in his head. He nudged Rossi who looked over and raised an eyebrow. "Alright kid, spill it... We can all see the gears in your head, what are you thinking?" Morgan asked.

Spencer glanced up at him, thinking over how to say it for a moment. "Wolfs typically... only attack humans for very few reasons, rabies, they see the human as prey, the wolf is protecting their young, or if they were provoked. So.. if possible we need to do several things. One of which would be to talk to the victim. See if he potentially provoked them?"

"The detective said there was a wolf pack, so maybe he was in the wrong area. But, nine victims. This isn't just an animal attack." Morgan said. "There is an unsub, and we have to figure out how he's doing this." "Yeah, but how would he know where the wolves are?" Prentiss asked.

"The wolves could be a coincidence. This is the first time they've been seen. Alternatively, what he could be doing, is kidnapping them and then putting them.. by a bear den or something like that?" Rossi suggested. "There's evidence of animal marks, bites, scratches." "Rossi makes a good point." Hotch said.

"So, he's a park ranger?" Emily suggested. "Or a wildlife Biologist," Reid said. "But there's around one thousand and forty of those in Oregon. There's probably about fifteen in Wallowa County."

"So, fifteen suspects? what if we cross that amount with what we profiled earlier?" Morgan said, JJ was about to retort that they should just call Garcia when Reid interrupted. "Well... I don't think we're going to be that lucky.... Out of fifteen wildlife biologists, it's very unlikely for them to be male, five ten and above, and between the ages of nineteen and thirty. Wildlife Biology is mostly populated by women... So we should probably look at people who work in or around the woods, I think that would push our number up to possibly three hundred."

"Great..." Rossi said.

"Okay we're getting ahead of ourselves." Hotch interrupted, standing up. "We don't know exactly who our unsub is, or where he works. We need to focus on what we do know. We know our unsub is a male, between the ages of nineteen and thirty, five ten or above. Most likely six foot two. He's athletic. So, Reid, Morgan, Prentiss, you will all work with Garcia to narrow down our suspect list. Me, JJ and Rossi will speak to the victims family and gather information." Hotch said.

He got a few nods and the team dispersed. Rossi and JJ stood and walked out with him while Morgan dialed Garcia and put her on speaker. "Why hello Chocolate Thunder" Garcia said, "How can I help you?" She added. "Hey baby girl, you got me, Reid and Prentiss. We're gonna need you to help us get a list of suspects. Do you have that list of twenty from earlier?" He asked.

"Uhhh, the twenty males who were between the ages of nineteen and thirty, and were six two? Is that the right list?" She asked. "Yes it is" Spencer said, "Then yes, I can send that to you." They heard some typing and then Morgan's phone dinged. "Anything else?"

Morgan was about to say no when Prentiss leaned over to the phone, "Can you run a background check on Finley Schuler, if you haven't already?" "I have done that already, he has a small criminal records. It was expunged and sealed. So I unsealed it. But, before I say that I gotta tell you a little story. so, Finley Schuler's mom and dad got divorced when he was fifteen. Dad, ex cop, Jason Schuler. Is currently in prison. Mom is deceased. Dad is not in prison because he killed the mom. That's where Finley's record come in."

"Finley has five counts of assault and battery. One is arguably aggravated assault. Let me remind you all of this was expunged by a judge when he was seventeen. But, the victim of all these assaults..."

"was his father. Now, his mom testified that his father started the fights so he could purposefully get Finley in trouble. He used his cop status quite often to 'keep finley in check' kinda stuff.. So, he was arrested for abusing power and for abuse. Because he was abusing Finley and his mother."

Reid and Morgan shared a look, slightly shocked. "Woah- wait, that's a record, why weren't we told about that?" Prentiss asked. "Maybe cause it's expunged.." Reid suggested. "Though, I'm more interested in the 'arguably aggravated assault'?"

"Yes. So, the fifth count, Finley and his father got into a fight like usual. But Finley. apparently using just his hands. Broke his father's arm and hospitalized him for about a week.. Judge said 'I acknowledge that it seems to be slight overkill however, there is a history of abuse and the defendant was protecting himself and his mother.'"

"So.. I think we might need to talk to Finley again." Prentiss said. "We should probably head to the station. He said he was going to bring us his customer records. He's expecting us there, at least. That's what JJ said."

"Okay. Let's go back, his mother is dead right?" Reid questioned. "Yes, his mother died in two thousand and eight... Lets see. Specifically twenty ninth of December two thousand and eight." Penelope responded. "That's about a year before the first killing.." Morgan started. "That could definitely be the stressor. But, he didn't kill till a year later.. So did something else happen?"

They heard some rapid typing. "Well I'm not seeing very much.... and trust me I am typing at the speed of light. I am not finding nothin." She said. "Any help?"

"Uhm, is there any major event that happened? like did something happen to his bakery, to his home, to the town?" Reid mused. "mm, good point. Also look for if something happened to Chelsea, during their relationship. They were dating when the first kill started." Prentiss added.

"Lookingg...." Garcia mumbled. "Spanking the keys as we speak" she added, Morgan snorted a little. "I'll hit you back, I have a lot to go through, that alright" Garcia said, hanging up before they could respond. "Sure baby girl, just hang up without letting us speak.." Morgan said, shaking his head.

"Oh cmon you're not bitching are you?" Emily retorted, stretching her arms above her head. "Only a little," Morgan said. "We should head back to the police station and we can look through the twenty people when we're there," he suggested. "Mm, good idea, there's coffee there as well so I'm not opposed," Emily said. Reid nodded in agreement. "I'll text Hotch that we're heading to the precinct." He said, pulling his phone out and clicking it on. He typed as they walked to the entrance of the hospital. Sending Hotch a simple message that they were going to be heading back to the station and look through the twenty files while waiting for Finley to arrive with his customer records.

He got a response whence he was in the car, just Hotch acknowledging it and saying they'd see them later.

──ᨒ↟ 𖠰──

JJ entered the family room first, Hotch and Rossi behind her. The woman, Alyssa Marks- the latest victims wife, stood first. Greeting JJ somberly "You must be the FBI we were told about?" she asked, "I'm Alyssa.. my husband was attacked," "Yes ma'am. We're investigating the recent murders, I understand you might've talked to the police, but I think we have some different questions." JJ said, gesturing for her to sit down. "Are these your children?" She asked softly. 

"Yes, this is our daughter, May. And our son, Zachary." She said, gesturing to the two children. A seven year old girl and a eleven year old boy. JJ nodded, "I do have some questions, so if you'd like we could go into a separate room, and my two coworkers, Rossi and Hotch" She gestured to the two men behind her, "-Will stay in here with them. Or, if you don't want to leave your children's sight then we can stay in here," JJ said. "Uhm.. I'd like to stay in here.." Alyssa responded. JJ nodded, moving to sit beside her.

Rossi and Hotch shared a glance, then looked towards the other two adults in the room. Benjamin and Carla Brown, the two witnesses who found the victim. "Mr and Misses Brown, we'd also like to speak to you, if you would follow us outside the room," Hotch said. The married couple shared a glance and stood, Carla briefly touched Alyssa's shoulder before they left with Rossi and Hotch. JJ watched them leave before looking back at Alyssa. "Now, I'd like you to walk me through it, and if you are struggling to remember then we might do a cognitive interview, which helps remember. But. Let's just.. try and see what you remember first." JJ said. Alyssa nodded, taking a deep breath before speaking.

"We'd been... planning the trip for a few weeks, my husband, he really enjoys hiking. So. We figured why not plan a hike. We started planning almost two weeks ago, asked for time off and everything.. Talked about it with some friends and what not. But, anyways. I think it was around... noon when we got up there. Diamond lake, we set up our tents, and my husband went and took a swim in the lake. I didn't want to swim, i thought it was.. too cold. So I just watched the others have fun. Zachary splashed at me a few times." She brushed some hair out of her face.

"It was all going fine... I didn't even know he was gone till the park rangers found us.." She said, sniffling. "I remember.. we went to sleep, around eight maybe.. and I don't know when it was but I remember Damien waking up. When I asked where he was going, he just said he was going to the restroom... And I fell back asleep quickly.." She continued, "Then, I guess it was.. must've been around midnight when there was a light outside my tent. And it woke me up. It was the park rangers... They said my husband had been attacked, and they needed to get us all to the hospital.. Said they would pack up all our stuff.."

JJ nodded, "Can I ask what your relationship with the Browns is?" Alyssa glanced up, wiping at her eye which had grown wet. "Oh, we're neighbors. Two houses over. Carla is a lovely nurse, she has a garden.. we trade occasionally. They go hiking very often. Camping as well. I'm glad they were camping this week.. And they found Benjamin.." She said. JJ nodded, reaching out to touch her shoulder. "You are incredibly strong, me and my team are going to find who did this to your husband.." She said. Alyssa nodded. "thank you..."

JJ got up and left the room, staying just outside the door as she saw Hotch and Rossi talking to the two Browns.

"-Two wolves attacked him. and... it just, seemed so unprovoked.." Benjamin Brown was saying, "I got my gun out, fired a warning shot and they retreated.. but, god.. They'd already hurt him pretty badly. And I have no clue why they attacked him, I was taught that wolves are wary of humans." Carla nodded. "That's what I thought, we heard Daniel scream- well we hadn't known it was him. But normally a human scream scares wolves off most of the time.. but I guess Daniel must've seemed like prey? That's the only reason I've heard of wolves attacking..." She added.

"Well, that's possibly one of the reasons. But, did either of the wolves seem like.. they were drooling excessively, or seem particularly aggressive? Any signs of Rabies?" Rossi asked. Carla paused. Thinking for a moment. "No.. they both seemed... calm? Just, like predators with a prey.. They almost seemed knowledgable. They saw us and they paused?" Her hand hovered at her chest, awkwardly adjusting her shirt. "But.. I mean, my daddy always said to be careful around a wolf, they're apparently very intelligent..."

Rossi nodded, about to ask another question when Benjamin spoke, "I did notice.. Before Damien saw us.. he glanced back at the tree line- where both wolves came from.. like he was expecting someone, and he was talking. But I didn't see any person. I'm really not sure.. It just.. seems a little important?"

Rossi and Hotch shared a glance, "did it seem like he was hallucinating?" Hotch asked. Benjamin paused, "well.. other than the blood loss.... No I don't think so? He seemed terrified..." Benjamin said solemnly. Hotch nodded. "Thank you for your help, if you remember anything else, here's my card, you can call or you can come to the station. We're going to be working there until we catch who did this." Benjamin nodded, taking the card and putting it into his pocket. "Thank you... Me and my wife are.. gonna head home.." He said. When they left Rossi noticed JJ, "how'd it go?" he asked  her. "Fine... she's.. scared." JJ said, "understandable." Aaron said, stepping over. "The other three are heading back to the police station. I think I'm going to go check on the victim. See if there's any updates."

JJ nodded. "Good idea.. I think I'm going to stay in this general area in case Ms Marks needs anything." Rossi and Hotch nodded, "I'll come with you Hotch." "Alright."

The two men turned and started walking deeper into the hospital till they reached the nurses station. Rossi pulled his wallet out and showed his badge. "Is there any updates on a patient, Damien Marks? He came in about.. an hour ago or so. Was attacked by some wolves?" The nurse glanced at the badge before typing on her computer. "He's just now out of surgery. Recovering from the anesthesia." She said, "if you need to speak to him it will probably be another hour or so. But I would advise letting him rest. Perhaps you should.. return to where your staying." She suggested. "But.. if you must speak to him now.. His room is number.. is E twenty three." "Thank you" Hotch said.

"It's not a bad idea Hotch.. It's just barely two. The team could sleep for four or some hours.." Rossi mumbled, Hotch glanced at him briefly. Before nodding. "Go get JJ, I'll message Reid. Tell them to head back to the hotel.." Rossi nodded and turned to walk back to where JJ was. Aaron messaged Reid.

Aaron Hotchner: Damien Marks is alive, and recovering from anesthesia. I know you and the other two must've just arrived at the station but I want you three to head back to the hotel and rest till six am. We'll get back to it then.

Really?: Spencer Reid

I'll tell Emily and Morgan then. :Spencer Reid

Aaron Hotchner: Alright, drive safe.

You as well.: Spencer Reid

"Guys" Spencer said, looking up from his phone. "Hotch just messaged me, said the victim was alive just recovering from anesthesia. He also said we should head back to the hotel and sleep till six." Morgan glanced over, "really?.. alright.. Prentiss you catch that?" he asked, looking over at her.

"I'm not deaf, Morgan." Emily responded, closing the file and standing. Grabbing her jacket. "I'm perfectly pleased to sleep a little more." She added. "You and me both. I'll drive?" Morgan said. He got two nods in response. "Let's head out then."

──ᨒ↟ 𖠰──

It was about six thirty am when they returned to the hospital. Rossi, Morgan and JJ returned to the hospital. It was cloudy outside, not quite rainy but it honestly looked like it might rain at any given moment. It was a bit chilly as well. But they had a job to do. Rossi showed his badge when he reached the nurses station. "I was here around one am, a different nurse told my partner that we could see Damien Marks around six am, whence he'd recovered from the anesthesia." Rossi said. Morgan and JJ showed their FBI badges as well for the nurse. She nodded. "Yes.. we have a note in the system. Damien Marks... he had surgery for several wounds sustained around, zero hundred hours.. Had surgery around one thirty to two. He's currently in room one eighty nine." She said. "He's still recovering but he's been in and out of consciousness. His stitches are holding. Here's the file for all his injuries." She said, handing over a beige file.

JJ took it and thanked her. flicking it open and reading from the first page. "'The victim sustained extreme wounds to the neck, shoulder and left arm. In his neck the carotid artery was distended, crushed and slightly penetrated.' The doctor described it as a force clamping down on the neck, while puncturing it, and then the victim, or the force clamping down was violently shaken." JJ read.

Morgan looked over, "I was reading a bit about wolves, sometimes, when attacking they shake their head or body. That could've been what caused the distension," he suggested. "It would make sense." Rossi added, "What else is in there?"

JJ looked down and read some more, "'additionally, the patients Radial and Ulnar arteries in his left arm showed similar damage, crushed and penetration. The victim had an avulsion, with jagged lacerations.' It says the injury was deep enough that it showed bone, and a size of about thirteen centimeters by six centimeters. The victim experiences severe bleeding and required several blood transfusions. 'Additionally the victim may require additional surgeries and will be on bed rest for approximately four weeks, with an estimated healing period of nearly several months. With frequent tests to ensure the victim's wound is not infected due to the nature of the wound and the fact that an animal caused it. Because the wounds were caused by an animal there is a risk of severe infection due to the amount of bacteria in an animal's mouth.' He's not going to be able to talk.." JJ said.

"Well.. let's hope his non dominant hand was injured?" Morgan said. "Otherwise this is gonna be... pretty hard..." "We could use one of those machines, they're like, eye gaze technology. We could get one of those." Rossi suggested. "Brilliant idea." Morgan said. "I'm gonna go find a nurse, ask if they have that, JJ, why don't you and Morgan head to the victim. Introduce yourself, see if he's capable of anything." JJ nodded, turning and walking down the hall to the room number she was told. Rossi walked over to the nurse they'd just spoken to.

"Excuse me, do you possibly have some sort of.. eye gaze technology? That a patient who can't speak could use?" He asked. She glanced up, "oh, yes. I believe we have only one. It might be slightly out dated but it should work?" She said. "What room would you need it in?" "E twenty three" Rossi responded. The nurse nodded. "I'll get it there right away sir." "Thank you very much." Rossi said, turning and walking down the hall where Morgan and JJ had gone. He glanced at the numbers as he walked. E20, E21, E22, E23. He stepped over and pushed the curtain to the side. Not fully entering- it was getting a bit crowded. He looked over, JJ and Morgan were on the left. Not blocking any of the machines. Then he looked towards the man laying on the bed. He was covered up to his chest with a thin hospital blanket. Arms resting limply on top of it. His left arm was bandaged the most. Right arm seemed fairly uninjured though it was in a bit of a sling. Few bruises and scrapes that had already been cleaned.

As for his shoulder and neck. There was a brace around his neck and visible bandages all over his right shoulder. So it was mostly his right shoulder and neck that were injured. JJ glanced over, "Damien, this is my other co worker, David Rossi." She said gently. The man just blinked at him. Rossi raised a hand. "They had one, it might be a bit out dated. But she's bringing it now. Have you already explained what we're doing?" Rossi asked. JJ nodded. "It's probably going to be a bit crowded in here, so me and Rossi are going to step out. We'll be right outside, and Morgan is going to ask you some questions. The nurse will likely explain how you'll answer okay?" she said, getting another blink in response.

Rossi and JJ stepped out. Just in time for the nurse to arrive with the machine. Rossi held the curtain open for her. She thanked him and pushed the machine in. They heard her explain simply how it would work to the patient and to Morgan. Adjusted it's audio till it worked, and then stepped out after checking all Damien's stats once more. Morgan pulled a chair over and sat down. "Alright, this is probably going to be a little long. But its alright. I just need you to try and give me details.. I'll ask questions, and if it's just a yes or no. You can blink once for yes, twice for no. Alright?" He received one blink. "Okay. I already know the story of how you got up the mountain, and I also know what time you arrived... I also know that you were attacked by two wolves.."

"So, did the wolves initially attack you, when you had left yours and your wives tent to go to the restroom?" Morgan asked. Damien blinked once. "Okay... Benjamin, your neighbor, said there were two wolves. Black and Brown, which one did you see first, or was it too hard to tell?" Morgan asked. Damien's gaze moved to the screen, and a moment later the words were read out loud by the machine in a simple, male mechanical voice.

'Both' "Good, that's good." Morgan said, "so, you saw both.. what happened next?" Morgan asked. 'I thought I could scare them off, didn't seem scared' the mechanical voice said. "Okay. So, you were using the restroom, and you see two wolves, I assume they made some noise and that's how you noticed them.. You tried to scare them off, but they didn't seem scared.. So what happened next, did you run off? Or did they attack? Blink once if it's the first, twice if it's the second." But instead of a blink, Damien's eyes moved to the machine 'the black one snapped it's teeth at me, and i ran.' Morgan nodded.

"Okay you're doing really good. Do you know how far you ran?" Morgan asked. He got two blinks. "Okay.. well your wife said that you were camping near Diamond lake.. but, you were found near Monkshood lake. Did you know that?" Morgan asked. Two blinks, and then the machine reading out 'I didn't know how far I ran, i just ran.' Before Morgan asked the next question the machine read out 'wait, 1 more thing'. "Is that about something else in the forest, Benjamin said it seemed like you saw something, when he found you- you were talking, and looking back at the forest line?" 'yes. I thought I saw a man. He knew my name. I thought I was hallucinating. Expected him to come out of the tree line but it was only the black wolf. But I swear I heard it.'

Morgan nodded. "Damien, did you see him?" Morgan asked. He saw Damien blink once, and then a moment later the machine read something out. 'he was tall, I was on the ground. He pet the brown wolf. Told it to 'let me run'' Morgan frowned. "Tall, like how, was he my height?" Morgan asked. One blink. "Did you recognize him?" Two blinks, "was it too dark?" One blink. Morgan noticed the heart rate picking up. "Okay. You did great, you were incredibly helpful. I think you need to rest more." He stood and left the area, stepping out next to Rossi and JJ. "did you hear that?" Morgan asked. Lowering his voice slightly. "Yeah.. He saw a man.. Who pet a wolf... Either he hallucinated from blood loss.. or our unsub is really good with animals." JJ responded.

"We should get back to the police station." Rossi said. The other two nodded. "It's about seven, Finley Schuler might've arrived as well." Morgan added. "Yeah, let's get going then." Jennifer said, turning and leading the way. They walked fairly quickly to the car. Had a job to do after all. They got out into the parking lot and Morgan fished the keys out of his pocket, unlocking the car from a few feet away. JJ opened the passenger door, considering she reached it first. Morgan got in the drivers seat, Rossi in the back passenger.

The drive was just five or so minutes. Early morning, just about six forty. No traffic, no cars in general really. Morgan actually drove fairly calmly for once. When they got there, there was a car in the parking lot. JJ leaned forward, "Hey, I think that's Finley's car. Emily told me about it" she said. Morgan glanced over, looking at the dark blue car. "Nissan Altima," he said. "Yeah. That's what Emily thought it was." JJ responded. Morgan parked the car, parking it on the left side of the nissan.

They got out and walked to the door of the police station. Saw Finley standing by a desk holding two bankers boxes. Three by his feet. They all seemed organized. With envelopes slightly sticking out. But, Rossi noticed his body language.. Didn't seem like he was struggling with the boxes at all. "Are those his... customer records?" JJ asked. Finley heard, despite it being not only a whisper but Finley was also probably ten feet away talking to the Detective, Markus Rowan.

He turned his head and looked right at her. Slightly curious almost. His expression was a little soft, not as afraid as it had been yesterday. He noticed Finley's nose twitch- honestly. Had Morgan not been a profiler, he probably would've missed it. It struck him as... odd. Finley had... clearly heard JJ whisper that, but how? He figured the nose could've been a tell.. But he'd probably bring it up to Reid later. Spence read lots.. always knew something random. Maybe it wasn't exactly a physical tell, but instead a condition.

Morgan walked forward, "are those al your customer records?" he asked. Finley's gaze shifted from JJ to Morgan, "yeah, I.. uh... it's all two and a half years of it.. I didn't know what all you wanted." "That's fine," Morgan said, "We can look through it. Why don't we put that into the conference room we're using. Those two boxes look a little heavy, I can carry one,"

"Oh no, it's not that heavy." Finley said, giving a small shrug. "Just, lead the way" he added. Morgan nodded moving to grab one of the boxes, turning and walking over to the conference room. Holding the door open for Finley. Reid, Emily, Hotch, they were already inside. Rossi and JJ were behind Finley. He carried the box in and set it down on the table with a small thud. Stepping back from it and closer to the wall like he didn't quite know what to do.

Morgan walked over and grabbed one of the boxes. Must've been about forty pounds. He could bench what, four hundred. So it wasn't much for him. But Finley.. He was holding eighty pounds without breaking a sweat. Now, Morgan almost didn't think much of this. But it was a little surprising. Finley was tall, clearly athletic. But, he didn't seem as muscular as Morgan. And he was holding them effortlessly. Like they weighed virtually nothing. Finley seemed comfortable holding them as well.

Finley glanced over at him, "don't strain yourself," he said. Morgan glanced at him, "it's fine. Appreciate the concern. How much can you bench?" Morgan asked. "That has to be eighty pounds, you seem pretty comfortable." Finley glanced over. "Oh its... uhm. I think it's around two hundred, maybe, why?" He asked.

"Two hundred? Pretty impressive. Just curious.." Morgan said. Morgan honestly thought that was a bit of a lie.. If he could bench two hundred, lifting eighty would still require some effort. But, Finley was doing it effortlessly, and Morgan thought he was probably lying about it. But, it didn't make that much sense as to why someone would lie about how much they can lift. But.. Morgan finds it rather common for people Finley's age to lie to authorities.

They carried the five boxes to the conference room and put them all on the table. "I'm really sorry, I haven't gotten all of it digital yet.." Finley said, "I've been working on it but it takes a long time. This is two and a half years worth, and if I remember correctly.. I average about... a hundred customers a day, and up to.. thirty three thousand a year even with off days..." He said awkwardly.

"Damn." Morgan said flatly. Finley cringed. "sorry...." he mumbled, "I can help you look through it, uhm, they envelopes are months and have the year on them," he said.

"Your bakery has been active for two and a half years?" Rossi asked. "Yeah, I was eighteen when I started." Finley said. "Impressive." Prentiss said, stepping slightly closer. So she was directly across the table from him. "We only need a years worth or so." She said. "But, we'd like to ask you a few questions, so what boxes are the most recent, from the past year, starting, March two thousand and nine."

"That would be... Those two boxes." He said, pointing at two boxes closest to Rossi. "Thanks," Rossi said, nudging the two boxes to the side. The other three got put onto the floor. Emily led Finley to an interrogation room. He didn't seem as nervous this time.

He sat down at the table. Shifting in his seat a bit, before settling into a position with his legs slightly stretched out. "Uhm, what.. did you want to ask?"

"Just a few things.. Could you maybe tell me more about your breakup with Chelsea, you said you were queer, anyone you have feeling for?" She asked. Finley paused, blinking at her. "i- uhm. uh." His face flushed, and he looked down. His hand going to the back of his head. "I... wow. I wasn't expecting that. Jeez. I have a friend... we're childhood friends... uhm. We've been friends since we were eight.. I've always cared for him, and when I was dating Chelsea i guess I caught feelings for him.. and that sorta deteriorated how I felt about Chels," he said.

"Whose your friend?" she asked. "Is that really important?" Finley asked. Prentiss studied him.. He was protective. Clearly, like he'd said. He cared for his mystery friend. Enough to protect him. "It is. Because we might have to talk to him. Did he know Chelsea had hit you when you broke up?" she asked. "yeah... I guess. I invited him over after she left... and even though I didn't.. say it, he could see my face" he shrugged a little.

"You didn't tell us that yesterday." Emily said. "I didn't think it was important... I mean, all we did was just hang out.." he said. "Watched a movie, had some ice cream.." he said. "What flavor of ice cream?" She asked. "oh, uhm, it's.. Tillamook, peanut butter and chocolate. It's his favorite, I think it's pretty good." he said.

"What's his name?" she asked. "Matthew... Matthew Strand" he responded. "He didn't do this though." He said firmly, Emily studied his face but nodded. "Is that all?" he asked, "I have to get to the bakery and open it."

"Yes, that should be all. When will you close? We'll return the boxes to you." Emily said, "I close the bakery around, five pm." he said, "alright, well, you're free to go." She stood and moved to the door of the interrogation room, holding it open. He stood and walked out.

Prentiss watched him, before returning to the conference room. "I still think he might be our unsub, or related to it somehow." Prentiss said. "yeah.." Morgan sighed, "we have witnesses saying there were wolves that attacked, so maybe he raised two killer wolves?"

Rossi looked at him odd, "What? We've never had a case like this" Morgan said defensively, "Morgan's right though, the only way we would be able to have two wolves who attack humans, and a human is if the human raised the wolves. That's the only reason, other than being diseased... that they'd let a human get that close and touch them." Reid said.

Hotch noticed Emily dialing something on her phone, "who are you calling?" he asked. "Garcia," Emily responded.

"How can I help?" Garcia chimed. "I need you to search up a name.. Matthew Strand. I found out that he's sorta the reason Chelsea Monoke and Finley Schuler broke up. Because Strand and Schuler are best friends. Have been since childhood. And Schuler had a crush on Strand when he and Chelsea were dating. He also knew Chelsea slapped Finley." Emily explained.

"Okay... Matthew Strand, S T R A N D?" "Yes," "Alrighty, found him, born January twenty first, nineteen eighty nine. Uhhh, he's six foot one, looks like he's got short brown hair, he works at a mechanic shop in Enterprise that is on the same street as the bakery. He has a small criminal records. Got into some fights as a teenager. But has reformed.. That's about all I got on him." Garcia said.

"It's helpful anyways Penelope, thank you" Emily said, hanging up. "Also, I let Finley go, he had to open the bakery. We don't have much linking him to the crime anyways." Hotch nodded. " That's fine. But we should probably talk to Strand, see if he knows anything. Emily, I want you and Morgan to go talk to Strand. We're using your appearance Emily." Hotch said.

"Makes sense, that's fine by me." Emily said.

──ᨒ↟ 𖠰──

It was around nine AM when they went to the mechanic shop, it was a small place. Had a few cars in the lot, and two garage doors. Both open, and inside both there was a visible car. Few employees spread out. Morgan followed Emily to the door of the main room. A sort of waiting room that had some chairs, a desk. Woman sitting at the desk, going through some papers.

She looked up "Hello, how can I help you?" she asked, "Fbi." Both Morgan and Emily said, showing their badges. She blinked, "oh, well. Is there anything you need?"

"We need to speak to one of your employees, Matthew Strand," Morgan said. She nodded, looking down at her computer, typing something in. "He's here today, in garage two." she said, gesturing towards the side door that lead to the garages. "They're busy today. So just be careful, don't bump into any of the equipment, don't go underneath the cars. Stay out of their ways" She said politely.

"right.." Emily turned towards the door and stepped through it, holding it open for Morgan. They stayed near the back wall and went over to the second garage area. "Matthew Strand?" Emily said, "yeah, that's me whose lookin?" A man stepped out from behind the car. Tall, like Garcia had said. He had a bit of a wolf cut, short, slightly messy. Down to his shoulders.

Wearing a simple black tanktop, jeans, his hands were stained black. But he was muscular. Honestly, possibly bit bigger than Derek- at least, in the arms for sure. He had a rag hanging from his pocket, grabbed it and wiped his hands on it. "So what? Fbi don't usually come to the shop. Your car broke down?" he asked, a bit of a scoff in his voice. Morgan did not like his attitude... 

"No. We need to ask you some questions." Morgan said, crossing his arms. Sizing him up. He didn't seem at all intimidated. "Yeah? Well it's bouta get real loud in here," he said, gesturing towards the first garage area. "We can step outside." Emily said. He glanced at her, gaze lingering on her face and hair. Before nodding. "Yeah. That's fine." He followed the two of them outside.

When they got outside, towards the side of the store where all the employee cars were parked. He leaned against the wall, "what do you want to ask about?" he asked, slipping his hands into his pockets. "We need to ask about Chelsea Monoke." Emily said. She watched his expression visibly flatten. His cocky smirk flattening into a near frown. "So what about her? I only knew her cause she was Finley's girlfriend. They broke up a week ago and I stopped interacting with her. She never really liked me, so I didn't care much. Plus, she smacked him. So I think she was a bitch."

Emily blinked, glancing at Morgan. "What made her family not like you?" She asked.

Matthew studied her, "I have a bit of a criminal record. I'm a fag and I'm fucking proud of it. So, that doesn't rub off too nicely on small town folk." he said, cocking his head to the side and smiling a little. "Don't go analyzing that like you folk do, I can see it in your eyes.. Sayin it's some defense mechanism. They can be homophobic towards me, I ain't give a shit. I'm queer, and I use the slur in a.. sorta, reclaiming way."

"We're not judging." Emily said, raising her hands in a placating gesture. "Could we ask about why you didn't like Cheslea, she was dating your best friend?"

Matthew sighed. "She was always a bit... nit-picky... Not tryin to be fuckin misogynistic, but fuck. Whenever me and Fin were hangin out, she always tried to pull him away. Get him to do something else. She glared at me, thought I didn't notice but I'm not blind."

"So neither of you really liked one another?" Morgan asked, Matthew nodded. "We tolerated each other cause of Finley. That all?" he asked. "We're also here about all the murders. Not just Chelsea's." Morgan said.

He shrugged, "I know they're all from Joseph or Enterprise. Know their names. But I didn't kill any of them if that's what you're thinking." "What about Finley?" Morgan asked. "He didn't do it. Finley doesn't even like horror movies, blood makes him squeamish sometimes.." Matthew said with a small scoff. "That all? car we've got needs to be finished."

"For now." Emily said, "But, don't leave the county." Matthew nodded, "sure. whatever.." he shrugged. He watched them leave to the parking lot. They got into the car. "So we're both in agreement that we should watch him for a little bit right?" Emily asked. "Oh totally." Morgan said. Starting the car, he pulled out of the parking lot and almost immediately went into a parking lot across the street. 

Almost immediately, maybe just three minutes later. They saw Matthew leave the store, pulling a jacket over his shoulders. Giving them a small roll as he walked out of the parking lot. Not taking his car.

"Someone was lying.." Morgan said, "wherever he's going must be in walking distance.. Especially if he's not taking his car." Emily said, pulling her phone out to message Hotch.

Emily Prentiss: Aaron, we're going to follow Strand for a bit. He lied about staying at his job to work on something. Just left,

That's fine. :Aaron Hotchner

Matthew entered the parking lot of Finley's bakery. Reaching the door in just a few steps. Morgan had moved the car to follow him and was parked in the lot next door. They saw Matthew push the door open and walk in, there was already a couple people inside. Four just sitting around, two already at the counter and now Matthew. 

Matthew stepped aside from the two people at the counter, and instead walked to the little half door that lead behind the counter. "Hey Fin, I got a little break, want some help around here?" Matthew asked, moving his hand to the hand sanitizer. "Sure," Finley said, looking at him. Tilting his head to the side slightly. Matthew smiled at him, stepping closer till they were shoulder to shoulder. His eyes were focused on the customers. "We need to talk later..." Matthew said quietly, before turning to go wash his hands in the back.

Finley turned slightly, watching him walk back. A small frown crossing his face but then he turned and smiled at his customer, handing him his bag of pastries. "Have a nice day," he said, "You too" The man said, walking out the door. Finley shifted slightly, going partially behind the pastry case and looking out at the parking lot. Only a few cars in the lot of the bakery... but, in the one next to it... Towards the edge, close to the street. With a view of the whole parking lot and could see into the windows of the bakery a little. There was a black SUV.. two people inside. Man and woman. He stared intently for a moment, realized they were the FBI agents.

One of them, the woman with dark hair.. Looked like Chelsea, he was certain they were using his appearance. The fact that she looked like his ex girlfriend, who was coincidentally found dead a few days ago. He felt a small growl building in his chest, but he turned away and walked into the back.

"The feds." Finley said harshly, "Watch yourself. Don't go growling at me because we're being watched." Matthew said, a low snarl in his voice. Finley stared at him, clenching his hand before unclenching it and taking a deep breath. "I... I'm sorry... I jus, it pissed me off yknow? I mean, we both know i did love Chelsea, even if.. now I love you more. But, using someone who looks like her.. feels shitty." he said.

"I get it, it's a dirty tactic honestly." Matthew said, "But hey.. everything will be fine." Finley smiled a little, "yeah. shit dude, they asked me about Chelsea yesterday. yknow how easy it was... to lie about it. I mean I wasn't fully lying. I didn't kill her but... it kinda got me goin."

Matthew snorted. "Watch yourself puppy" he retorted. Finley looked at him, smirking a little. A little amused. "Shut up.. c'mon, we gotta get back out, otherwise they'll probably get a little suspicious," Finley said. "And youu should be at the mechanic shop." "Yeah yeah.. I'll go out the back, probably shake their trail." Matthew said, waving as he stepped out of the kitchen into the alleyway. "Be careful" Finley called.

They saw Finley step out behind the counter. Going over to the cash register and greeting the customer. But they didn't see Matthew come out.  Morgan sat up a little, watching a little closer. They'd expected Matthew to come back out. It had looked like he was gonna help Finley at the counter. But... they didn't see him.

──ᨒ↟ 𖠰──

"Hotch, we lost Strand. He and Schuler met up, talked about something and then Strand disappeared." Morgan said as he entered the conference room where the others were. Reid spun in his chair, looking over. “The bakery probably has a back door, or he didn’t even leave the building.” Reid suggested. Emily shrugged, “I think he must’ve realized that i’m talking to him because I look like Chelsea, he definitely noticed our car.”

“That is a bit more suspicious..” Hotch said, “We might have to bring them both in.. But, I think we need to go to the crime scene because we haven’t yet.”

”Me and Rossi can go,” Morgan said, “With some of the detectives.” Hotch responded, Morgan nodded, stepping out of the room, “Detective Rowan, we’d like to go look at the most recent crime scene.” “Oh of course, uh, fair warning.. It is like a four and a half hour drive. Maybe five. It’s a bit of a road trip really. But there is a lodge up in the mountain, if we don’t want to drive through the middle of the night.”

Morgan looked towards Hotch, who nodded. “Yeah.. We’ll probably stay at the lodge. Five hours there and back in one day, is a bit much.” The detective nodded, “I’ll go grab my bag, I usually keep one. We’ll probably meet the crime scene folk up there.” “Works with us.” Rossi said.

”Be safe” JJ said, Morgan and Rossi nodded before stepping out of the station. “This is gonna be a long day..” She sighed, pushing her hair out of her face. “We can’t just sit around a whole day and wait for them to get back,” Emily said. Hotch nodded, agreeing with Emily. “We’ve gone over victimology, our suspects, including Finley and Matthew. We’ve given our profile as well.” Reid chimed in.

”Yeah but we don’t have a concrete suspect. We have three witnesses, one saw a man, the other two just saw wolves.” Emily responded. 

"Alright. Let's do something. Finley closes the bakery at five. Should be home by six thirty. At that point, we'll have two teams. One goes to Schuler's house. The other to Strand's. We'll bring them in at the same time. Try and break them. Turn them against each other..." Aaron said. "Me and Emily will go to Strands. JJ, you and Reid will go to Schuler's."

"Reid, you'll stay behind everyone considering your limited mobility." JJ said, Spencer nodded, "I expected that. Fine by me." he said.

They ended up reviewing everything they possibly knew about Finley Schuler and Matthew Strand. They had to know everything to interrogate them properly. Emily described how they had spoken about each other. How, if they pushed hard enough they could probably get them to break...

She suggested.... they remind Strand of Finley and Chelsea's relationship. Sort of a... He chose her over you. Emily suspected that would get him to snap. To say or reveal something they could use. Because all of them suspected the boys were in the murders together. Their stories were slightly too perfect, rehearsed in a way.

Additionally. The way Strand had looked at Emily. Like she wasn't supposed to be there. His eyes had gone somewhat unfocused. Somewhat irritated. He'd looked at her like she was supposed to be dead. Plus. He had motive. At least for Chelsea. She'd harmed someone he cared for- that person being Finley. He had a record. He was fit enough to have the capability to chase someone through the woods. 

Course there was still the part of the wolves... That could simply be fairly large dogs that were kept hidden or something of the sort. It would be easy to hide dogs in a forest if they had a cabin. Attack dogs. With the owners following and doing some of the damages.

Which means they would probably have to find a cabin. There were some in the woods..

By the time Morgan and Rossi had gotten into the woods up near the lake where the crime happened, it had been a very boring and uneventful five hours. Garcia called twice. Morgan had messaged Hotch a few times, nothing had happened while they were on the road.

"Okay, here it is.. crime scene. The crime scene folks are up here as well." Detective Rowan said, gesturing in front of them. Towards where there were several people spread out slightly. Near the lake, near the tree line. Had some crime scene tape.  Morgan recognized Zachary from the other day. He ran over, "Hey- you're the FBI agents from the other day," he said, smiling slightly.

"Yeah." Morgan said, studying the boy. "What can you tell us about the scene?" Rossi asked.

"Oh- uhm. Well, in the woods over there, I'd say probably... nine feet from the tree line, there's some of Damien Mark's blood. I'm fairly sure that's where the bigger attack took place- that being when his shoulder and arm were injured... Here follow me," he said, walking towards some tree lines and pushing some brush out of the way.

There, by a fairly big tree, thick trunk, was some blood. Both on the ground and on the trunk. "Then... I believe that the victim managed to get up and stumbled out into the clearing." He said as they stepped into the clearing themselves "Which is where that other blot of blood is, and where the two witnesses saw him."

"There are some paw prints. they're definitely bigger than the average. There was also a footprint. Matched the one we found at the other scene. We've done a bit of searching, sorta spreading out... But, there's a lot of animals in these woods. So, some of it is a little disturbed.. Uhm, we've found a bit of evidence that he ran from that way." Zach pointed towards sorta north east, mostly north of them, "that was is thick woods... uhm, it's sort of a valley. There's the Red Mountain, which you passed and there's a mountain range that follows it. The valley is pretty long... if someone disappears in it.... shit it's gonna be hard to find them..." He said, rubbing the back of his neck.

That's when they heard a shout from Detective Rowan, and heard three shots pop off. "Detective Rowan?" Morgan called, pulling his gun out. Rossi did the same, Zachary froze, glancing at the two older men.

Morgan kept his gun in front of him as he pushed some brush aside. There, in between some trees... Were two wolves, one large brown and a large black one. The black one's teeth were clamped into the Detective's shoulder. Shaking it's body a little. The three shots Markus had fired hadn't gone anywhere, nor had they scared him off. His gun was a few feet away. Morgan raised his gun, aiming carefully, and fired.

The bullet hit the black wolf in the front right leg. The wolf yelped, teeth letting go of the detective. The wolf stumbled back, growling at Morgan. And then, surprisingly.. The brown wolf stepped in front of the black wolf, protectively. Snarling at Morgan and bearing it's teeth. The two wolves stepped back wards just slightly. "cmon get lost" Morgan snapped, pointing his gun at the wolves. Rossi had his gun trained on the brown wolf.

The brown wolf snarled once more, before turning and quickly nudging the black wolf. Despite the black wolf being fairly injured.. They took off pretty damn quickly. Morgan moved over to Detective Rowan, crouching down beside him, "Kid, call 911. Tell them we need an airlift as soon as possible." Morgan said. He put his hands over the detective's wounds, putting pressure on them. "C'mon, stay with me." Morgan said. Rossi walked over, pulling his jacket off, "cmon, wrap it around his wound. Keep pressure on it." Rossi instructed.

──ᨒ↟ 𖠰──

The team was three blocks away from one another. JJ and Reid behind some officers at Schuler's residence. A small cottage with quite a few wildflowers in the front yard. Small, cozy. Round back Spencer could see what looked to be a small garden, and a bench that looked worn. The first officer kicked the door down, the door bounced off the wall as they entered. "Enterprise Police, make yourself known!"

The same thing was happening at Strand's house. Bout the same size as Schuler's house. The front yard was small, just a few bushes because the house was close to the sidewalk. The backyard had tall grass, lots of flowers. Bit of it was flattened like someone had been laying in the grass for hours over weeks. Hotch kicked the door down. Even though it wasn't as... Artistic... as Morgan's. It still worked. "FBI. Make yourself known" Hotch called.

Both houses had been empty.

Reid had called Aaron, "Hotch, he's not here." Spencer said, "We're looking through his house right now.." Hotch sighed, sounding a bit irritated. "Strand isn't here either. They're both gone." "I think they knew we were onto them and they disappeared..." Reid suggested.

"Hold on, I'm getting a call from Morgan." Hotch said, turning the call into a conference call. "Hotch- fuck, we were at the crime scene, and those wolves, they attacked Rowan, just got picked up by a helicopter. Me and Rossi are getting down the mountain, sirens on. What's wrong with you?" Morgan asked.

"Schuler and Strand are gone. Both are gone from their houses." Aaron said, Reid spoke up "yeah.. I think Schuler packed a bag.. there's some clothing missing.. I'm not finding his wallet, or birth certificate, or any important documents. The keys to the bakery are here as well. His car keys are here as well. Is Strands car there?" "Yeah.. it is." Hotch said, "Garcia didn't see anything that indicated either owned a cabin somewhere in the woods. She dug deep...  There's no stolen car records yet."

"So what, they're just gone?" Rossi asked, leaning slightly closer to the phone, looking over at Morgan in the car. "possibly..." Hotch sighed. "How far are you from the hospital?" he asked. "Three and a half hours with how Morgan is driving. Sirens on. Going seventy in a fifty five. At least he slows when it comes to corners."

"We should just meet at the hospital... But, honestly. Politics considered... now that our suspects are gone, and the killings will probably stop... They're probably going to want us back."  Reid said. "let's just meet at the hospital." Hotch said, hanging up. The other two exchanged a word, telling each other to be safe, before hanging up as well. 

──ᨒ↟ 𖠰──

Six hours later, the team was on the plane. Morgan was not thrilled. "No, it's great that he's stable now. But they're forcing us to go back. We know damn well, Finley Schuler and Matthew Strand are still fuckin out there." Morgan said. "They probably are, but they've been gone for around eight hours. We have other cases Morgan..." Reid responded. "Plus. It's not exactly our jurisdiction anymore. The local police will update us.. but, they're going to comb through the woods. For all we know.. they could probably be in Washington. Or Idaho."

"headquarters wants us back. We have other cases that require our attention. If our assistance is needed, then we will certain be asked back. But it's not needed anymore." Hotch said, "I know none of us our thrilled about being forced to leave. But... It.. is what it is unfortunately." He sat down on one of the chairs in the plane, catching Reid's cane when it tipped over, and handed it back to him.

JJ sighed, "it's still a bit disappointing. But. Hopefully our next case is more successful." She said. "How bout we go out? Drinks. Chinese food? Something of the sorts?" Emily suggested. "I'd enjoy that, but... I am so tired..." Reid said.

"Ay ay, I have an idea." Rossi said, sitting up in his seat. "We all go home. Rest up a bit. Tomorrow is a Wednesday. But hey. You can all come to my house and I'll make some pasta. We can relax." "Oh yes please." Emily said, "will there be wine?" she asked.

"Probably." Rossi said, "but you're all free to come. You better come actually." he said. "We deserve a break after that."