Chapter Three / Death Begs For Feminine Fear

Season One / Episode Four

A month has passed since Monica Choung joined the BAU team, a month since she had her first case and a month since she started her new life. After the first case, she met the other two team members she was unable to meet due to her sudden departure from the Unit. Derek Morgan and Penelope Garcia were waiting for the team at Morgan's desk, where he sat on the chair while Garcia perched herself against the wood of the table. However, upon the sight of a frowning Hotch walking towards them, the blonde was quick to jump to her feet with her hands behind her back as if trying to prove her innocence. Hotch did not even bat an eye at the pair, but instead headed to his office and closed the door behind him – shutting the world out. Typically, Monica would have been concerned by the behavior, but the introductions were enough of a distraction she did not mind.

Derek Morgan gave her a firm handshake, using his other hand to pat her shoulder as he smiled at her and introduced himself. It caused Elle to laugh, before Penelope Garcia rushed forward to embrace her in the tightest hug. Monica had to take a step backwards to brace for the surprised attack on her, though her arms wrapped around her too, which caused Garcia to giggle. Monica found it easy to describe the pair of them as the moon and the sun, and when together their friendship was as beautiful as a solar eclipse. It was also Morgan who suggested that the team goes out for drinks, to celebrate the new arrival in the team, though Elle grumbled it might just be an excuse to dance with attractive women at the bar. Hotch, Gideon, and Reid did not come to the drinks, though those who did would not mind the lack of people to worry about as they spent the entire night dancing with one another on the dance floor as their alcohol levels increased every half hour.

Perhaps it was why Monica got along well with the team, they separated their friendships away from a work-based support system. They bought the light that was so desperately needed when they spent every day dealing with the monsters of the world. It was why she and JJ had gone together after their shifts to buy a specific birthday cake hat that resembled a floppy top-hat was most certainly the most embarrassing thing that Spencer Reid was forced to wear for his birthday. JJ had put the hat on too harshly, and it had fallen over his eyes but left the dorky grin that remained before he pushed it back up to a resting position. Her bond with the team was also the reasoning behind her participation with the prank, as she carried the cake baked by Penelope Garcia with pre-lit candles while the trio standing behind Reid sang happy birthday for him.

As she set the cake down on the desk in front of the birthday boy, Monica took a step back and was nudged by Morgan as Elle clapped her hands together from her position on top of Reid's desk with a grin, "Make a wish!"

Reid gave her a look over his shoulder, the smile not fading off his face even as he blew the candles out. They flickered out for a moment, before suddenly the flames burst up again as if he had never touched them. His face crinkled with confusion as he blew them again, the same thing regarding the candles repeating itself which caused the man's face to only get more confused as he continued his attempt to blow the candles out. Monica had to bury her head into the side of Morgan to stop herself from bursting aloud, while he was able to hide his laugh but the wide grin on his face revealed how much joy he had watching Reid suffer as he said, "Come on, man. Blow! Blow, baby, blow!"

"I thought you were full of hot air, Reid." Elle teased as Reid attempted again to blow the candles out, getting a frustrated pinch in his eyebrows. 

"Can't believe candles are boy genius's weakness!" Monica added, finally laughing as Morgan wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her in as they shared the joke. Elle had lent out of his way, though her hand was over her mouth to stop herself from snorting as she laughed. Reid did not calm down on his attempt to blow out the candles, as if fueled by the teasing from his teammates as he picked up his pace which only made the trio laugh even harder – causing Elle to drop her hand and finally snort in her chuckles.

JJ, a light smile on her face as she appreciated the humor, placed a hand on Reid's shoulders which caused him to pause for a second, "They're trick candles, Spence, okay? They, they're going to come back on every time."

In response, Spencer Reid attempted to blow out the candles even harder.

"Mommy to the rescue." Morgan mocked, his voice going high pitched to the tone of stereotypical baby-voice as he removed his arms from Monica to grab a hold of the flaps of the birthday cake hat and wriggle it on Reid's head.

"Mommy?" Reid quizzed as he batted Morgan's hands away, who in response grabbed a hold of them and faked hurt. Monica pushed him with one hand in the chest to cause him to stumble slightly, and a more offended look appeared on his face though the corner of his lips twitched upwards.

"Ignore them." Elle imputed, despite her contribution to the prank – the original idea coming from her.

"Does it make you legal yet, Reid?"

"Come on, Morgan! He is twenty-four!" JJ responded, and if it were in any other situation Monica would have assumed she was telling the older man off. Though the glowing complexion said anything but. Morgan raised his hands in self-defense, though he gave Monica a wink as JJ began to cut the cake for the team, "I hope you like chocolate."

There was a distraction that caused Monica to look up and watch as Anderson – perhaps her closest friend since she had arrived – answered the phone that had rung in the bullpen. He bit the inside of his cheek before he called for Hotch, their boss who had been standing with Gideon outside of the little celebratory party. She furrowed her eyebrows as she accepted the dessert fork from Elle without even glancing, then the third slice of cake cut from JJ who had saved the first piece for Reid who had gone to talk to Gideon. Morgan nudged her away, causing her to break her concentrated stare that flickered between Hotch and Anderson. He held an extra slice of cake out, "Go see what you can get from your little friend."

Monica smirked as she took the slice of cake, balancing the two in her either hand while the fork was resting between two fingers. She found herself at Anderson's desk seconds later, walking past Hotch who gave her a certain look, before she placed the slice of cake on top of the report he was writing, forcing a wide smile on her face, "Here we go. One chocolate cake piece with blue icing for a Mr. Grant Anderson."

He looked up at her, raising an eyebrow, "How come you never call me Agent? It's my legal title."

"Eh, too formal," she remarked as she shoved a forkful of cake into her mouth, perching on the edge of his desk which caused his paper to scrunch up. 

Anderson glared up at her though it was humorous, "And Mr. isn't?"

"Do you want a slice of cake or not, Anderson?" Monica threatened, grabbing hold of the napkins' edges with one hand which his piece rested on and dragging it towards her. He slapped her hand away, lips pursed shut as he pulled the cake closer to him. She gave an overconfident smile, one that disappeared quite quickly as she heard her boss call over:

"Sorry guys, party's over."

Monica was the first to seat herself at the round table, her slice of cake resting in front of her as she dug heaped fork amounts into her mouth. She would rather eat now than during the case which would more than likely disrupt her appetite. Her legs were crossed underneath her body as Morgan sat to the left of her, passing her a coffee mug filled with water as he took a sip of his own coffee. JJ and Hotch were the last to walk in as soon as Monica finished her last mouthful, her boss instantly starting, "We're going to San Diego."

"But not for the surfing, huh?" Morgan remarked, accepting the file that JJ had just handed to the pair sitting aside each other.

"They're calling him the 'Tommy Killer'" JJ added, ignoring the comment from the man which caused Morgan to look at Monica. She shrugged her shoulders as she removed one leg from underneath her weight and let it dangle, already opening the case file to scan through the evidence photos.

"Six women raped and murdered in their homes in the last three weeks." Hotch informed, causing Elle to look up from ripping the tape of the file, a frown on her face.

"Six in three weeks?"

"That's a short fuse." Gideon murmured.

"And getting shorter." Hotch replied, his voice strained, and Monica thought he sounded tired. He flicked through the file that they now all had in front of them, double-checking his information, "First two were eight days apart, then the next four in two weeks."

"Rapid escalation," Reid voiced, his eyes darting back and forth as he read over the case file. They looked up at Hotch for a brief moment as he asked, "You think he's regressing to a psychopathic frenzy?"

"No, he's too controlled for that." Hotch murmured more to himself than Reid. But he flipped back to the front of the case, pushed his chair out and stood up to head towards the open door, "See you on the plane."

"Why the Tommy Killer?" Morgan called after him as their boss reached the doorframe, pausing in his walk.

Monica, who had gone straight to study the crime scene photos replied without even looking up, "The Who."

Morgan turned to stare at her, an eyebrow raised as he opened his mouth to question her stupidity about not understanding his question when Hotch interrupted his thought process, "Choung's right. You know the rock opera? Well, this UnSub glues his victims' eyes wide open."

Her mouth dropped as she whipped her head around to look at her boss, finally tearing her gaze away from the file in her hands. Hotch's expressions remained minimal, but he gave a jerk of his head before he left the room – the team sitting still in their seats in silence. This UnSub was going to be an interesting case.

The next day the team met at the airport to catch the flight to San Diego, giving them the afternoon and early morning to read over the file. Monica dressed herself in straight-cut mahogany brown corduroy pants and tucked into the pants was a white long-sleeved blouse she had rolled to her elbows covered in a vest. Knowing there was not going to be much field work on their arrival, Monica wore her favorite leather black ankle boots. What she hadn't thought about was the hot weather. When they arrived at the Task Force Headquarters, she alongside Morgan made their way to the geographical set up on the clear whiteboards, ignoring every detective waiting excitedly for the BAU to arrive. While not much was verbally expressed between the pair, a conversation was held purely through looks and certain points to locations on the map. It was then Morgan who initiated in finding Gideon, the agent studying the boards of the victims: "He strikes during the day in upper-middle-class neighborhoods."

"Extreme high-risk victims at a high-risk time," Gideon responded, his voice monotone. His body posture nor gaze changes in any way. Monica studied him from behind as she folded her arms over her chest, a light frown on her face which made her wrinkles appear more, "He's confident in his ability."

"It is roughly a five-square-mile radius that our UnSub works in." Monica informed him, hoping he would turn around. He did not, so she continued with a sigh, "Based off that, he probably uses a vehicle to get around."

"Do you want to see that crime scene?" A detective asked, surprising the trio who all spun around coordinated. Monica read the ID badge hanging from his suit pocket – Detective Cornelius Martin. Morgan spared a quick glance at her, who shrugged her shoulders, "It's still taped off. The husband won't go back inside."

Gideon pursed his lips together, "Let's go."

When they arrived at the house, the crime scene was quiet. No investigation meaning police officers would be on the premise, no snooping journalist. Nothing but silence. Monica, getting out of her seat from behind the driver, was the first to spot the patrol car driving towards them as she peered at it through her sunglasses. Gideon reached her side as the second car came from the opposite direction. The two frowned as Gideon began to move to the house, the woman trailing behind them with Morgan as the older agent asked, "You increased patrols in these neighborhoods when a pattern was identified?"

"After the fourth victim," Martin responded as he shoved a hand into his suit's pocket, turning back to look at the FBI agents following him, "Boss has cancelled days off, vacations."

"Neighborhood full of cruisers and he still struck two more times." Morgan voiced, adjusting the position of his own sunglasses with a huff, looking back to see another patrol driving past. His eyebrows caused wrinkles as Gideon's phone began to ring, looking towards the man.

"He blends in," Gideon answered before fishing his phone out of his pocket and holding it to his ear, "Gideon. Attempt? Well, we're already at the last crime scene. Let us know if you identify a suspect."

Based off the tone of his voice, as well as the conversation, Monica assumed it was Hotch who had called. While the two agents appeared nonchalant about it, Martin's mouth opened as he asked about the suspect. Gideon looked at him, pocketing his phone, "Might have been another attack not far from your station."

Martin halted in his tracks, instantly turning around to go back towards the car they arrived in. Monica was the first to spot his departure, snapping, "Oi! Where are you going?"

"Over there." Martin gestured in the vague direction of the headquarters.

"Well, units are already heading that way." Gideon explained in a wheezy voice, as if he struggled to breathe before he looked out in the distance at the surroundings of the street, "We can get more accomplished here."

Martin scoffed, "You're kidding me, right?"

"No." Morgan responded bluntly as he stopped at the top of the stairs, just in front of the black and yellow police tape, "If there's an arrest, what we find here will help you prosecute."

"This scene won't be pristine forever." Gideon added softly.

There was a moment of silence as the detective looked between all three of the agents watching him carefully, before he shook his head as he shoved his hands into his pant pocket. Within seconds he pulled out the keys to the house, handing them over to Gideon, "Guys, knock yourselves out."

In unison, Monica and Gideon headed towards the front door as Morgan went to have a conversation with Martin. It was Monica who held the tape up for the older man and watched as Morgan disappeared behind the house while Gideon used the key to slice through the sticker holding the door together. As they entered the house, silence swallowed them a whole as they began studying the obvious signs of how the family would want to display themselves. After a minute or two, Gideon turned to face the newer BAU agent, "Follow me. Think of this as your training."

"Shouldn't that be done under my boss's influence?" Monica quizzed, a slight smirk on her face as she looked at him with raised eyebrows. However, Gideon's face was deadpanned and instantly any emotion mimicked his face.

"Be my guest and head back to the station, you may catch the detective before he leaves." His voice was harsh, but in a college professor way. Monica simply smacked her lips together and averted her gaze away from Gideon, meaning she missed the teasing smile and nod of his head at her response.

According to the file Monica had spent her waking hours yesterday reading over, the scene of the crime took place in the upstairs master bedroom, and it was the first location she headed to. Ignoring the footsteps of Gideon behind her, Monica glanced through each doorway of the house as she made her way to the bedroom, getting a brief layout of the house. And while Gideon found himself having his rectangular glasses perching on the tip of his nose as he looked at the belongings on the side tables, Monica stood in front of the mirror where words were painted on in red lipstick. Gideon spotted her and murmured over his shoulder, "Read it aloud."

And so she did, word for word with growing confusion. When she finished, she rolled her shoulders back while she scoffed, "If Reid had not told me it was a ballad, I would have thought our UnSub was batshit crazy." She turned to see where Gideon stood, walking up behind him so that both reflections appeared in black off-TV. Suddenly Monica's face lit up, "Oh! Uh, I remember reading in the file that she was doing step aerobics when the blitz attack happened. I assumed that because she was watching TV with her back to the door, and clearly engaged enough, she would have heard nothing, and it was the perfect opportunity for our UnSub to strike."

"Good." Gideon confirmed her idea with a singular word. It was at that moment when Morgan arrived, his pace slow and eyes scanning the room. His mind was taken up with the case, and whatever he saw downstairs, "Repeat what you just said to Morgan."

While Monica explained what she had just said to Gideon, the man moved the glasses from his face and down to hang by his mouth gripping the end of the arms. Though she was wearing her contacts, as she always did while working, she could feel the texture of them in her mouth as it was something she often did when she was at home and reading since she had no use for the glasses at short-distance and the nose pads would get caught in her curls. Morgan, on the other hand, crinkled his nose at the visual while Gideon seemed unfazed as he asked, "Where's the platform Choung?"

"Oh, uh, my guess? Under the bed. I often store mine there for easy access." Monica huffed as she shrugged her shoulders, straightening her posture whilst doing so under the teacher-glare from Gideon that reminded her of high school. Gideon knelt on the floor, peering underneath the bed before he straightened up and turned to look back at Monica as he nodded his head. Monica knew it was a sign for her to continue her profiling, "So, our UnSub spent a lot of time at this crime scene. She was attacked during the video which means the platform would remain in front of the TV if he left right away... Instead, it was underneath the bed. He put it away."

"What are you saying? He vacuumed?" Morgan quizzed, his face contorted with confusion as he flicked through the file in hand and giving a roll of his eyes, "There's not marks from the platforms."

Gideon let out a sigh as he stood up, running a hand over his hair as he grabbed his glasses with the other, "Choung's right. A lot of time was spent here."

"The broken things." Morgan voiced, body turning to look back at the doorway he just entered through as if he remembered something. Monica raised her eyebrows again at him, unhooking her arms and placing her thumb through the belt loops. "She must have already been dead incapacitated when he did that. Cappuccino maker from the kitchen, dishes, vases, broken jewelry."

Gideon, now alert to the latest information perched himself on the edge of the bare bed with his fingers tapping on his thighs, "They are symbols. Choung, what was the quote about the jewels?"

"Your riches, gold, garments, jewels bright. Your house and land, must on new owner's light." Monica recited and Gideon nodded his head, Morgan looking amused by the memory as Monica added, "So, her riches. The quotes relate to our victims?"

"Not necessarily," Gideon replied to her question before falling into silence. Both Morgan and she watched him, before he looked back up at them with a faint smile on his face though it was not of joy but frustration, "Ever feel like there is something obvious right in front of you, you just can't see it?"

"Yeah, usually right before a woman dumps me." Morgan huffed, the joke an attempt to lighten the mood. Monica and Gideon looked at him with slightly stunned expressions instead, causing the man to break out into a grin.

"Choung, call the detective to have him come and take us back to the station."

Following Gideon's orders, the trio returned to the headquarters with a soft smile on their faces as they dwelled in the silence. The smile? Monica did not know why they smiled, for the moment was bleak and the case even darker, yet they did. Perhaps the other two well-experienced agents were doing the same as she was and imagining a happier thing. It was all interrupted, however, the moment they stepped foot into the headquarters as Reid rushed his way through officers to reach his team, "The verses."

"You found something?" Gideon asked, his voice inflicting at the end which Monica took for hope... Maybe she was learning how to profile.

"Uh, not an answer. Rather a question." Reid replied with an apologetic smile, holding the sheets of paper higher for the three to see. Monica raised her eyebrows at the man as she tucked her sunglasses' arm into her corduroy slacks, hanging aside her FBI badge. "I found the full text. He's pretty much following it to a tee, at least, the Death side of the conversation."

"But?"

"Why didn't he leave them at the first three murders?" Reid quizzed, and Monica blinked at his question. It had not even crossed her mind, the difference shift between the third and fourth victim. By the slightly puzzled expressions from Morgan and Gideon, Monica assumed that they had not thought of it either. "I mean, this ballad is ten verses long, just on the Death side. He's got plenty to work with. But if it's not part of his signature, if it isn't something that he has to do for an emotional reason then, I mean, why start?"

The group was silent for a moment, before Gideon furrowed his eyebrows and snapped his fingers, "JJ, find out when the press ran the first story on this UnSub." The blonde woman, who was lounging at the desk and scrolling through the file though her eyes were glazed over averted her stare to look at the senior agent with confusion, "After which victim."

"Why do we need to know which victim?" Monica asked Gideon, and the man turned to look at her. He had a faint smirk creeping on his face, the corners of his lips twitching upwards as he tried to contain it.

"He wasn't getting enough attention." He voiced as plain as day, clasping his hands together and shrugging his shoulders. Monica's mouth opened as she let out a noise to display her understanding.

Reid huffed, "Police departments sometimes don't even realize they're looking at a pattern."

"Yeah, until somebody tells them." Morgan agreed.

JJ coughed, distracting the group to look at her as she pulled the phone away from her ear and placed a hand over the microphone to muffle her voice, before she informed what stood of the team, "The first story ran the morning after the fourth victim was found."

"Wait, didn't the patrol increase round the neighborhood after the fourth victim as well?" Monica asked and Gideon nodded his head.

"Yeah, the police didn't realize what was happening. He writes his verse-"

"Everyone knows that he was there." Reid finished, cutting Gideon off. The group looked at each other, a moment of realization of the dangers this attention could lead to. Yet, they were distracted as Elle and Hotch joined them, being spotted by Monica first who stepped aside to widen the circle and let them in. Hotch stood aside her, and the moment he froze he placed his hands on his hips and informed:

"The offender in this new attempt is a black male."

Morgan's head whipped to his boss, "Black male? Cross racial? That doesn't happen."

"How about Herbert Mullin?" Reid offered, tucking loose strands of hair behind his ears as he sucked his lips in to nibble on the bottom skin. Morgan wiggled his head, showing he wanted the young man to continue, "He killed fourteen different people of completely varying ages, races and creed."

"But there was no sexual component to his crime." Elle retaliated, instantly causing Reid to silence himself, "And he wore a ski mask. This attacker wore a ski mask."

"So, they're two different UnSubs we are dealing with?" Monica asked as she folded her arms. The team all turned to look at her, and she frowned at the sudden attention for what she knew they had already pieced together, "The ski mask is a new factor. Despite our original UnSub leaving behind no witnesses, we profiled him to spend time at these locations, so he doesn't need to hide from them. This new UnSub also left a victim, he does not know what he is doing."

"Elaborate." Gideon informed her, though she was quick to realize it was a prompt in their training.

"As Morgan said, cross racial attacks are rare and unlike Mullin these victims to our original UnSub are all Caucasian women of the same age group. He doesn't show variety, much like a white UnSub would." Monica shrugged her shoulders, Elle smirking at her comment, "The new attack was staged differently. It has to be different."

"What made you reach that conclusion?" Hotch questioned her, though, despite her sudden flustered expression, Monica knew it was about how not what.

"Gideon's been teaching me." Her boss remained silent as he looked towards the older man, who simply gave a nod of his head and said:

"Tell them we're ready."

"To deliver the profile?" Morgan asked, tilting his head to the side.

"And to make the Tommy Killer contact us."

The plan was simple, yet intelligent enough it reminded Monica of a trap. Perhaps the fact that Jason Gideon, the original Profiler, had created the trap was the reasoning behind its beauty. The idea was this: use the new suspect to allude to him being the UnSub, which would then cause the Tommy Killer to react in a way that would alert the team of his position. This came from Penelope Garcia's awesome technological skills – who was waiting patiently on the other end of Monica's call. Everything had been planned down to the minute, the time drawing near to 1am before they got the call. His threats were tedious to the group, however the possibility of the next victim sounded dangerous. A man with his strength, and his history of pain to women would be destructive if he found the next victim. However, the trap and trace that Garcia was set up to cause when the UnSub called turned out to be a failure. While they listened to his rant, it was JJ who delivered the news that nothing had come from it.

The entire team was on edge, the threat of the unknown looming over their heads. Hotch, in his authoritative state, sent them back to their hotel rooms so they could get what little sleep they would find themselves needing to ignore the San Diego heat. Monica, resting on a solid hour nap, had given herself a cool bath instead to ease her aching muscles and racing thoughts. Morgan knocked on the door at 5:30am, his voice deep in sleep which caused her to remove herself from the bath which left her wrinkly all over. 

She dressed in dark ash-grey straight-cut suit pants, their texture breezy enough she did not feel she was suffocating in them. This came useful as she slumped in the car seat aside her boss, hands folded over the tight-fitting black singlet that was tucked into her slacks. Her tattoos were on show as she fiddled with the thin black belt around her waist, the gold buckle gleaming in the sunlight as she used her left shoulder to adjust the sunglasses falling down her nose. Her hair, tied back into a high ponytail was squished against the headrest of the car seat, enough pressure to give a semi-headache though she continued to move to distract it. Her expression was determined, shown by the slight twitch in the corner of her lips as she stared over the dashboard to the surrounding seats. Hotch, finally having enough at his stakeout partner, turned to look at her, "Are you alright Choung?"

"Just relaxing while waiting for a perv to harass another poor innocent woman. Another normal morning, don't you think?" She quizzed, a fake chirpiness to her voice to show how uncomfortable she was with the situation. A more obvious sign was the lack of eye contact Monica gave, Hotch bit the inside of his cheek as he turned to look outside the window.

"We are going to get him."

"You know, I never had to deal with this shit while I was a surgeon." Monica complained, suddenly adjusting herself upright to send a glare towards her superior. Hotch raised an eyebrow from underneath his own sunglasses, "I could handle the hemorrhoids, colon cancers, fuck! Even the lung surgeries! But I never had to deal with this shit... It's just so..."

"Real?"

Monica paused at his words as she looked over to him, clearly surprised by his response. With raised eyebrows of confusion, she slowly nodded her head as she shifted once again in her seat by pulling a leg up to hug, "Yeah. Real."

"All of the victims we see are women, and they all relate to a common fear that women have regarding society." Hotch explained, looking out to the surrounding street areas, his voice was neutral, as if he recited it off the top of his head, "No one in this team expects you to instantly be adapted to facing these fears head on. It takes time."

Monica hummed, "Right." Silence, as she looked over to him and gave a gentle smile, "Thanks."

He said nothing.

It was then that Gideon called Hotch, and when the phone call hung up, Hotch repeated all the information from the senior agents to her, "He is a phone technician. Kept him in obvious sights to the officer but no one, not even the officers would question why he is there. It would also explain how he rerouted the phone call through twenty-five substations."

Monica whistled, "He's really experienced, huh?"

"Unfortunately." He replied, starting the undercover car they sat in. 

When they arrived at the scene only minutes later, Elle and Gideon were already out of the car as if waiting for the team to appear as backup. Hotch, instantly slamming the brakes and putting the car into park, slid out of it, and rushed towards Gideon in a steady jog. Monica, slower than her boss, followed behind as she pocketed her sunglasses into the back pocket of her slacks. Gideon, while looking towards the surrounding houses, shouted orders at them, "Fan out. Go through yards. Look at the telephone poles. He's around here."

After minutes of looking around, attempts to show any break in, it was Gideon who found the UnSub's location first with Monica trailing from a different gate at the sound of the shrill baby cries. The cries alone felt out of the ordinary, suspicious in a neighborhood where she knew their mother (or live-in babysitter, depending on how rich they were acted) would care for a child crying like this. She pulled her gun out, holding it in both hands at her side as she crept into the backyard, footsteps patient as she studied every single inch of the house. It was then when she saw Gideon crouching aside the crying baby in the highchair, his gun out while he pulled out his phone. Monica hurried over to Gideon, whose eyes flicked up above them – she understood right away. The baby continued to sob, even worse now that he was surrounded by strangers. With furrowed eyebrows, she pulled her sunglasses out of the back pocket and gave them to the baby, who in response shoved the soft rubber ends of the arms into his mouth as he chewed, muffling his cries as Elle and Hotch arrived aside her.

"I'll stay." Monica offered to them in a hushed voice, freezing as the floorboard creaked above her, "Gideon has already gone upstairs, he will need assistance."

Hotch shook his head, "No. Greenaway will stay and look after the baby. Choung, you will come with me. If the victim is hurt, she will need you." Elle was the first to nod her head, accepting the instructions as she moved to comfort the child as she removed him from the highchair and cooed to him softly. Monica hesitated briefly, eyeing the baby before Hotch placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and edged her forward. It caused her to shake her head, ridding herself of any thought that delayed the pair.

When they arrived at the room, guns aimed to fire, they walked into a scene of the UnSub placing either hand on the side of his head as he dropped to his knees. Whilst Monica was stunned, Hotch did not hesitate to move forward as he pocketed his gun then pulled out handcuffs. It took a moment for Monica to realize what was happening, though she moved naturally towards the woman bound and gagged on the bed in front of them. Monica knelt in front of her, eyeing the back streaks of mascara down her face before she removed the duct tape from over her mouth. The woman sobbed, crawling towards Monica, "My baby! My baby!"

"It's okay, he is okay. An agent is downstairs with him right now," Monica informed her quickly, her tone softening as it often did when she spoke to patients' families in the hospital. The woman wailed even more, though from a sense of relief as Monica ignored Gideon (who moved to untie the bounds on her legs and hands tied behind her back) as she pulled the woman into a hug, whispering, "You're okay ma'am. You and your son are okay."

On the plane ride home, Monica found herself sitting across from a sleeping Morgan. She had curled up against the seat, rolling her shoulders back as she rested her cheek on the palm of her hand and closed her eyes. It was silent for a moment, before a voice spoke, "Good job today, Choung."

Her eyes opened for a brief moment to look over at Hotch, who had not turned to look at her despite his sentence. She looked at JJ, who shrugged her shoulders, though there was a smile on her face. Monica rolled her eyes, mouthing "Men" at her before returning to her original position, a faint smirk on her face at the appraisal from her boss.

Kai Speaks !

^^ spencer reid for his birthday

I. only had derek and moni for one chapter but if anything happens to them ill kill everyone in this room then myself... them plus elle create my favourite trio of all time. and i am so glad i was able to include soft! team in this chapter closer to moni's join, just to show how accepting they are of her because its proven in later seasons the team just accepts whoever rocks up into the BAU.

II. also being able to shove this episode into one chapter was impressive, but it was very dialogue based and it wasnt significant to the plot which i could just summarise it! also with all the outfits i describe for moni, they will be actual outfits, or inspo drawn from them. these are all found on my pinterest (link will be in the comments)

III. i hope you all enjoyed the chapter <3<3<3