❝And I, too, am dim to my friends and unknown; a phantom, sometimes seen, often not.❞

VIRGINIA WOOLF

✩

4.8 : little white lies

OR

season 5, episode 21 : exit wounds

FIN'S GOT OLIVER TWIST LYING OPEN ON HER LAP, BUT SHE HASN'T READ A SINGLE WORD PAST THE FIRST PARAGRAPH. Right now, JJ, Emily, and Penelope are probably browsing clothing stores, laughing at something silly that Henry did, reminiscing about what they ate an hour ago, and she's stuck at home, reading while Spencer drums his fingers on the edge of his chessboard, biting his lip as he stares at the pieces.

 It's not that she wasn't invited; JJ asked first, Emily asked a few hours later, and Penelope begged her to come on the elevator ride down to the parking lot. Fin desperately wanted to say yes to all of them, but that's the easiest place in the world for Esther to do something. Out in the city, no protection... That's her happy place. Fin couldn't do it with a good conscience.

So she lied about dinner plans with an old girlfriend of hers three times over and now she's sitting on the sofa, staring at the first page of a book she's read at least twice before, wishing that her stupid mother wasn't a serial killer so she could go out with her friends.

But as nights like these typically go, it gets worse. Spencer's phone rings. He frowns, looking at the screen. "It's JJ. Hey, it's Spencer." A pause, then: "Uh-huh. Okay, I'll be right there."

"A case?" Fin asks, setting her book on the arm of the sofa and raising her eyebrows.

"Yeah, and a bad one," Spencer replies, standing up and grabbing his jacket from the armchair behind him.

Then Fin's phone rings. Spencer frowns at it. "But JJ just called–?"
"I may have lied about where I was going to be tonight," Fin says, grimacing, and before Spencer can respond, she answers the phone. "Hey, Jaj."

"Hey," JJ replies, and it sounds like she's in a car. Probably on her way back from girls' night, Fin guesses. "Sorry to ruin your dinner, but we just got a case. How fast can you be at the office?"

"Uh..." Fin pretends to check her phone. "The restaurant's only twenty minutes away. I'll be there as quick as I can."

"Why did you lie to JJ?" asks Spencer, the minute Fin hangs up.

"Because she invited me to girls' night with Emily and Penelope, and I needed a reason not to go," Fin says, jogging down the hall to the bedroom to grab her shoes. Green hightops should do.

"Can I ask why?" Spencer calls down the hall.

"You know why. It's not safe."

"But for one night–"

"Esther's waiting for that one night. For me to make a mistake, to let my guard down–" Fin bends down to lace up her shoes, looking up at him– "She's waiting for me to get comfortable. I can't let her win like that."

Spencer wisely chooses not to argue this, instead changing the subject. "So where were you supposed to be tonight?"

"Having dinner with a friend," Fin replies, grabbing her own coat off the hook by the door. "So we should take different cars."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want any of them to know that I lied. If they ask you, tell them I had sushi with Jo and you stayed home and played chess."

Spencer sighs. "I hate lying."

"Baby, please." Fin leaves her hand on the doorknob, preventing him from leaving, her eyes never leaving his. "Help me out here."

Spencer's eyes soften. Fin knows he secretly loves it when she calls him "baby". He sighs, running a hand through his hair. "Fine. But I don't like this."

"I know." Fin stands up on her tiptoes and kisses him softly. "And I'm sorry. I promise it'll be over soon."

She takes her own car for the first time in a very long time, blowing a kiss to Spencer as she pulls out of the parking lot. The radio's automatically tuned to the alternative station, and Arctic Monkeys is playing. It's been a while since she's listened to her own music. Usually it's the news radio or oldies with Spencer. Oldies are a compromise, actually; he'd rather listen to classical and she wants anything with words.

"'Saw it and she grabbed it, and it wasn't what it seemed,'" Fin sings under her breath, not really paying attention to the song. She hates lying like this, just as much as Spencer does, but the images of Penelope, of JJ, of Morgan, of all of them, lying dead on the floor the way Ollie did keep running through her head. She promised a long time ago that Esther wouldn't hurt anyone else she loved.

And then Nick was killed.

And Fin made a different promise.

That the next time she saw Esther, she'd kill her.

This one, she'll keep.

Everyone but Spencer and Rossi are already in the conference room by the time Fin arrives, and JJ looks up at her, smiling. "Hey. Sorry about interrupting your dinner. How was it?"

"Fine," Fin replies, smiling back and dropping into the chair next to Hotch. "Jo had to get back, too, so it worked out okay. Her aunt's got the flu, so she couldn't leave her alone for too long."

Spencer walks in five minutes later, and he walks over to Fin first, kissing her on the top of the head. "Hey, how was dinner?" His tone is flawless, casual, no hesitation or trembling at all. It's effortless for him.

"It was good," Fin answers, hiding her shock with a smile. "Jo said that the store's been–"

And then Rossi walks in the door and Fin's jaw drops. She wolf-whistles, grinning. "Hey, you."

He's wearing a very nice tuxedo and looking extremely unhappy at having to be at the office at the moment.

"Whoa." Emily raises her eyebrows, grinning equally slyly.

"Sorry to ruin your night," Hotch says, looking back at the file in front of him as Rossi sits down to his left.

"What, are you working on wife number four?" Morgan chuckles, twirling his pen between two fingers.

"I see you people way too much," Rossi grumbles, rolling his eyes, and Fin laughs, feeling suddenly free and lighter, the guilt she felt twenty minutes ago dissipating with the look on Rossi's face.

"Let's get started," Hotch says, looking up again, and Fin's all business.

JJ nods, still grinning. "Alright, Anchorage field office is asking us to investigate a series of murders in Franklin, Alaska."

"Alaska?" Fin raises her eyebrows. "Wow."

"Yep. There's three people dead in less than a week."

"For a town with a population of 1,476, that's fairly significant," Spencer says.

"It's their first murder investigation on record," JJ adds, nodding.

"Who are the victims?" Rossi asks.

"Jon Baker, a hunter." JJ clicks a button on her remote, bringing up photos as she names each victim. "Deidamia Swanson, a schoolteacher. Brenda Bright, the first mate on a fishing boat. There's a new victim every two days."

"Any connections?" asks Emily.

"Unfortunately, in a town this small, everyone's connected," JJ replies.

Fin nods. "I grew up in rural Mississippi. Everybody knew everybody and more importantly, everybody guessed about everybody. There'll be rumors for days, and the problem is that people will believe them."

"Different kill methods," Morgan says, looking down at his file. "Says the first two victims were both shot with a rifle, but Brenda Bright was stabbed twice with an arrow?"

"Are we sure it's the same guy?" Rossi asks, frowning.

"If it is, that's a hell of an escalation," Fin mutters, staring down at the photos of Brenda Bright's body.

"All three victims were found in heavily trafficked areas," Hotch says. "The unsub wants them found sooner than later."

"Jon Baker's body was left exposed to the elements, but the two women were buried under mounds of trash." Emily shakes her head confusedly. "Why?"

"Could be a sign of remorse," Spencer replies. "Cover their bodies so he doesn't have to face the reality of what he's done."

"Or he thinks that the women are trash and he's just placed them where he thinks they belong," Morgan counters.

"Well, we can't be sure of anything yet," JJ interrupts, before anyone else can chime in. "Franklin is an isolated fishing community that's been hit really hard by the current economy. Add to that a series of unsolved murders and everyone's on edge."

"The local sheriff's out of his depth," Hotch adds. "And Alaska hasn't handled a serial investigation since Robert Hansen in the eighties. We'll fly out tonight. Everybody can sleep on the plane. And Garcia, I need you with us."

"Sir?" Penelope says quietly, confused.

"I've tasked a satellite uplink and it's your job to keep us connected," Hotch explains.

"Yes, sir." Penelope sounds politely surprised.

"This town's already on the brink, and if this pattern continues, we've only got another day until the next murder," Hotch continues. "Let's finish this fast."

"Wheels up in thirty," Fin says, smirking, and Hotch rolls his eyes. She loves messing with him.

✩

It's a ten-hour flight from D.C. to Anchorage, and while it's important that everyone sleep as much as they can, Fin gets barely any shut-eye. She's curled up next to Spencer on the sofa, her head on his chest, but her eyes are wide open.

Finally, around five-thirty, she gives up on sleeping any more, changes clothes in the tiny jet bathroom, and puts coffee on for her and Morgan, who's awake, too.

By six-thirty, the others are awake, too, and so they pull out their files, rubbing the sleep from their eyes, and talk further about the case.

"This guy's all over the map," Emily says. "Crosses sex and race boundaries. He changed his kill method. Says to me he's disorganized."

"Yet there weren't prints at any of the crime scenes," Rossi says, setting his file back on the table. "And he isolated his victims."

"Wearing gloves and making sure there aren't any witnesses–" Morgan shrugs– "That's a no-brainer. But what concerns me is the evolution of the kills."

"Evolution?" JJ frowns.

"Well, he started with easy prey," Morgan explains. "Jon Baker was in his mid-sixties. Relatively low-risk for a first-timer. Deidamia Swanson was in her early fifties. She wouldn't be that difficult to overpower."

"But he didn't have to overpower either one of them," Spencer counters, his free hand resting comfortably on Fin's knee, his thumb rubbing absentmindedly over a small hole in her jeans. "Both victims were shot."

"Which is my point exactly." Morgan nods. "He killed them both from a safe distance. But Brenda Bright was younger, more athletic. She would've been able to put up much more of a fight, so why not shoot her, too?"

"Maybe he didn't get enough out of shooting the others," Fin suggests quietly, sipping her coffee. "Maybe he wanted more of a challenge. More of a thrill."

"That supports the disorganized theory," Hotch says, arms crossed over his chest.

"Brenda Bright was an attractive woman," Rossi says, thinking. "He used an arrow, but he didn't shoot her with it. He stabbed her. I think we all know what that means."

There's a moment of tense silence, then Hotch says, "When we land in Anchorage, there'll be a float plane to take us to Franklin. When we get there, Morgan and Prentiss, work the crime scene. We need to know exactly how he ambushed his victims. Reid and Rossi, the bodies. Find out what you can there. JJ and I will work victimology, and Garcia and Finley, town records. Find us something we can use."

"Of course, sir." Penelope nods. "I should let everybody know that reception in the area is unreliable at best, so I'm giving everybody satellite phones for communication, and I've already preprogrammed all your digits into speed dial. Guess who's lucky number seven?"

Spencer squeezes Fin's knee gently, and she looks over at him. "Be safe."

He smiles. "You, too."

The float plane is small and cramped, especially with eight of them in it, and Fin's crammed between Spencer and the window of the plane (Spencer remembered that she's claustrophobic, so he let her have the window seat), and her hand is tight in his the entire two-hour flight. The views out the window are definitely beautiful, but Fin tries to focus on breathing, keeping her eyes closed to block out everything but her breath and Spencer's grip on her hand.

The plane lands bumpily on the water–Fin squeezes Spencer's hand so hard he whispers, "Ow"– and skids to a stop next to the single dock protruding from the shore. Emily, Morgan, and Rossi get out first; Hotch next, since he sat up front with the pilot; and then Penelope, Spencer, and Fin, all carrying their go-bags. Fin takes a deep breath, finally able to relax; the Alaska air is seriously cold, but fresh and reinvigorating, and the sunshine is warm and strong against her back.

A red-haired woman wearing a brown jacket and cowboy hat walks up to them, hands shoved deep into her pockets. "Welcome to Franklin. I'm Deputy Flack."

"Are these the docks that Brenda Bright was working the night she was killed?" Morgan asks, cutting straight to the chase.

Flack nods. "Yes."

"All right, we'll get started here." Morgan gestures to Emily, who walks past him and up toward the stairs leading onto the pier.

The rest of them follow Flack up the stairs behind Morgan and Emily, where a car is waiting for them. A very old and very yellow car, in fact, that sputters when you turn the engine on, which is not entirely encouraging, if Fin's being honest.

Rossi drives, of course, and Hotch rides shotgun, which leaves Fin to clamber over into the very back, because she knows for a fact Penelope would not do it, JJ doesn't care either way, and Spencer's knee is aching today, although he won't admit it, and he's limping a little. Fin guesses it's something to do with the cold up here.

When they pull up to the police station, the sheriff's standing outside waiting for them. "Agent Hotchner?" he asks, shielding his eyes, as they climb out of the car.

"Yes, sir." Hotch walks over to him, extending his hand cordially.

"Sheriff Rhodes." He shakes Hotch's and JJ's hands, nodding. "Very nice to meet you, sir. Ma'am." He nods to Rossi, Spencer, Fin, and Penelope as they join the group. "I cannot tell you how grateful I am that you all could come. The people here are really starting to act up. I'm afraid our little town's a bit of a powder keg."

"Where would you like us to set up, sir?" JJ asks.

"You see, there's not much room at the station because that's also the post office," Rhodes says, shrugging.

"Ah." JJ nods, giving Fin a remember-our-small-towns? look, and Fin just grins back. She definitely does.

"But I have made arrangements for you to work out of Carol's Tavern, which is right over there." Rhodes points to a tiny inn, just across the street.

"Thank you." Hotch nods gratefully.

"Well, thank you," Rhodes replies. "Appreciate it."

Rossi and Spencer take the car over to the doctor's office, who's functioning as the M.E., and Hotch, JJ, Penelope, and Fin walk to Carol's Tavern, where Fin helps Penelope set up her satellite and laptop.

Penelope's finally connecting on her laptop when there are footsteps on the stairs behind them. Fin turns around to see a man, probably close to her own age, average-looking, and leaning on the sofa behind them. "Whoa," he says, nodding to her. "What are you two doing?"

"Trying to make this place a little less analog," Penelope says, eyes not moving from her laptop screen. Then she pauses, turns around. "Sorry. I forget my hacker jokes aren't funny. My name is Penelope, and this is Fin, and we're the ones combining my kick-ass systems with your sheriff's department database to get the skinny on your neighbors...and you."

"Fin?" The man frowns. "Isn't that a boy name?"

"Apparently not." Fin rolls her eyes. So he's that type of guy.

"You could just ask us what you wanna know, by the way," the man says to Penelope, shrugging. "I mean, isn't it better to just talk to us directly, than look up our dirt secretly?"

"No." Penelope shakes her head. "Because in my experience, the information superhighway never lies and people do. Your name would be?"

"Josh. My mom Carol, she owns the place."

"And it goes like this." Penelope turns back to her laptop, typing away furiously.

"This is where the magic happens," Fin says quietly, grinning up at Josh, who doesn't seem at all enthused.

It's only a few seconds before Penelope says, "Here we are. Joshua Beardsley, age twenty-three, born right here in Franklin, AK. Moved to Anchorage for middle and high school." As she talks, Josh moves around the sofa to sit down at the end opposite Fin, looking over Penelope's shoulder at the laptop. "Majored in hotel management at Seattle U, and you moved back home a few weeks ago."

Josh grunts in an emotionless sort of way. "Perfect timing, huh? I come home, people start dying."

"I tell you what, Josh, you are a real delightful person to be around," Fin says sarcastically, and Josh rolls his eyes.

"And this is when I check your criminal record," Penelope adds, turning back to the laptop and typing some more. "And you, my friend, are clean as a whistle."

"What does that even mean?" Josh scoffs.

"You've never been convicted of any crimes, I suppose," Fin replies, somewhat sarcastically. This guy is one serious Debbie Downer.

"I guess I'm safe, then?" Josh asks, ignoring Fin and instead addressing Penelope.

"For now." Penelope nods, grinning.

Josh makes some sort of excuse to go back upstairs, so Fin and Penelope get back to work with the files, checking everyone's records against CODIS, and Penelope rages–quietly, so that Carol can't hear–that her connection is so slow. It takes a full five minutes for each file to fully load, instead of the ten-second upload time back in Quantico.

Sunset comes quicker than they expect, and slowly, the rest of the team files into the lobby area. Rossi starts a fire in the fireplace without being asked, complaining quietly that he's too old for this type of weather, and Spencer drops into an armchair next to Fin, smiling tiredly at her. They explain that their unsub is perfecting his craft over time, practicing on each victim, and that urine was found only on Jon Baker's body.

Fin pulls a blanket down from the back of the sofa, curling up inside it. Despite the fire, it's still chilly inside, and she's just cold naturally. She looks over at Spencer and is surprised to see him already staring at her. When she raises her eyebrows at him, he mouths, "You look cute," and his face goes all red. Fin blushes a little herself, and from beside her, Penelope snickers.

"He's already experimenting with the victims," Rossi says, breaking the silence. He jabs at the fire moodily with a poker. "He violated Brenda Bright with an arrow."

"And he's inciting panic," Morgan adds. "People who have lived here most of their lives are packing up to leave."

"Can you blame them?" JJ asks, from the opposite end of the sofa. "We have a psychopath whose hunting ground is a town of 1,400 people."

"Most of them grew up learning to kill animals and start fires," Spencer says quietly.

"Like I did," Fin replies, and Spencer raises her eyebrows at her. "I grew up in a small town, too, Spence."

"It sounds like your basic survival skills," Sheriff Rhodes says, leaning against the mantle.

"No." Rossi shakes his head. "They're hunting skills." When Rhodes gives him a disbelieving look, he continues. "Think about it. The marksmanship, the urine–it makes sense."

"The urine makes sense?" Morgan raises his eyebrows questioningly.

Rossi nods. "It's a hunter's trick. You urinate downwind to keep the animals away."

"He tried to preserve Jon Baker's body so it would be discovered intact," Hotch says, staring into the fire thoughtfully.

"Alright, so we've got a psychopath with hunting skills who knows the routines of everyone in town." JJ looks around at them all, her expression grim. "How are we supposed to keep everyone safe?"

"Sheriff, I suggest you institute a curfew until we have the unsub in custody," Hotch says, looking up at Sheriff Rhodes. "Nobody out after dark."

Rhodes nods. "I'll have one of my deputies patrolling around the clock."

"Garcia, how's it coming with town records?" Hotch asks, turning to Penelope.

"I've run everyone who's been printed through CODIS," she replies. "Nothing's come up so far. I'm gonna pull an all-nighter, finish going through the town records. Should have background checks by sunrise."

"Do you want me to stay up with you, Pen?" Fin asks, turning to face her from the depths of her blanket cocoon.

"No, no, no. Profilers need their rest." Penelope pats her arm, smiling. "I'll be fine."

"Agreed." Hotch nods. "The rest of us should get some sleep, start fresh in the morning."

"I've got four of the upstairs rooms available," Carol says quietly from the doorway, speaking for the first time.

"Uh, four?" Spencer asks, frowning.

"Come on, that's the best we can do," Rhodes replies, chuckling. "Your team is double the size of my department. I'll see you in the morning."

"Good night," Hotch says, and when Rhodes disappears out the door into the night, he looks back at the rest of them. "Looks like we'll have to double up."

"I'm not sleeping with Reid," Morgan says with absolutely no hesitation.

"Damn right you're not." Fin reaches over and grabs Spencer's hand, grinning at Morgan. "He's mine."

Penelope reaches up and grabs Morgan's hand, grinning herself. "Dibs."

On the way up the stairs, Rossi leans over and whispers to Fin, "You two better actually sleep tonight, because Hotch and I are right next door, and we're old and need rest."

"Hotch is not old." Fin makes a face. "He's what, forty-five? That's nowhere near old."

"I see you're avoiding the first part of what I said," Rossi says as they reach the landing, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

"How very deductive of you to notice." Fin shoves the key into the lock, smiling sweetly at him. "Good night, David." And she pulls Spencer inside, shutting the door behind them before Rossi can retort.

The room is small and very rustic, but the bed is comfortable and the water is hot. Fin takes a shower first, and then brushes her teeth while Spencer showers, and they're both in bed in half an hour. Spencer reads quietly for a while with the lamp on, and Fin types out an email to Lars, one that she'll send when they get home and back to better signal.

After about half an hour, Spencer turns the lamp off, and they both burrow under the covers, attempting to fall asleep.

"It's cold in here," Fin says after a while, pulling the comforter up to her chin. Despite wearing sweats to bed, she's still freezing.

"Come here, then," Spencer replies, rolling over to face her and opening his arms.

Fin snuggles happily into his chest, feeling his arms against her back, but when she slides her hands underneath his t-shirt, he actually shrieks out loud. "Oh, my god, your hands are cold."

Fin has to bury her face in her pillow to keep from laughing loudly, and when she comes up for air, Spencer's laughing, too. "Shh!" she says, still giggling. "We can't wake up the others!"

"I'll keep you warm, but don't you dare put your hands on my stomach," Spencer whispers, pulling her back into his arms with a grin.

"But I like your tummy. It's adorable." Fin pretends to pout, sticking her bottom lip out, the way she knows Spencer can't resist, and smiles against his lips when he kisses her, the way she knew he would.

"Good night," Spencer says, pulling away slowly and kissing the tip of her nose. "I love you."

"I love you." Fin kisses his nose right back, eliciting that adorable shy smile she loves so much, and then she curls back into his chest, feeling his heartbeat against her ear, his breathing slow and steady, and it puts her right to sleep this time.

~

welp somebody scheduled the last chapter for the wrong day lmao so you get two chapters this week! yay incompetent posters hehe

so close to the end and i'm ready but i'm also scared you're gonna hate me 😬