"So, what do you think of the pink?" Elijah asked as he walked towards the kitchen,"Too much?"

"I think it's nice, I like the fact that just the middle finger is black." Reid nodded.

"Garcia thought it would be funny." Elijah hummed.

Reid grabbed the coffee machine and poured the coffee into his mug as Morgan walked in. Reid then grabbed the sugar and began dumping it in.

"Easy there, tough guy. Have some coffee with your sugar." Morgan nodded to him.

"I need something to wake me up." Reid shrugged.

"Late night?" Elijah turned to him, sitting on the counter.

"Very." Reid sighed.

"My man." Morgan chuckled.

"Not that kind of late night." Reid quickly replied.

"Now tell me, what does keep young Dr Reid awake at night?" Morgan walked up to him, coffee cup in hand,"Wait, lemme guess, memorizing some obscure textbook. No, no, no, working on cold fusion. No, I got it, watching Star Trek and laughing at the physics mistakes."

"Actually there aren't that many scientific mistakes in Star Trek, especially considering how long ago it was made. There are certain improbabilites but not that many outright errors." Reid explained.

"Right." Morgan nodded as he went to leave

"Hey Morgan? Elijah?" Reid bit his cheek.

"Yeah?" Elijah titled his head as Morgan turned back around.

"Do you ever have dreams?"

"I'm sorry?" Morgan raised a brow.

"I suppose nightmares would be a more accurate description.."

"Is that what's been keeping you up?" Elijah asked, sliding off the counter.

"I used to get them occasionally but lately I've been getting them every night." Reid explained.

"What are they about?" Morgan raised a brow.

"This. What we do... Do either of you have nightmares?"

"Reid, I'm not sure if I'm the right person for you to talk to about this." Morgan shook his head as Elijah sat quietly.

"Why not?" Reid blinked.

"It's just... Did you ask Gideon about it?"

"No." Reid sighed.

"You should." Morgan nodded.

"Hey, Hotch wants everyone in the Round Table room... Something up with you three?" Elle pointed.

"No." Reid answered quickly, walking past her.

JJ walked into the Conference Room,"McAllister. Western slope of the Massanutten Mountain in Virginia. Two bodies discovered in the woods, both with apparent blunt force trauma to the head."

"Skeletons?" Reid raised a brow as he looked at the file.

"One of them. The second victim was killed just this morning." JJ nodded.

"How do we know there's a connection?" Elle asked.

"Found about seventy five feet apart with nearly identical head wounds." Hotch sighed.

"So where's the rest of the case file?" Elijah asked.

"There isn't one. The sherrifs are on scene waiting for us." Hotch shrugged.

"The location is only half an hour away by plane." Fleur pointed.

"What's the rush?" Morgan questioned.

"Well, there was evidence on the scene that could cause a bit of public uproar." Hotch admitted.

"Satanic cult." Gideon shook his head, sitting the file down.

"Oh, lovely." Fleur sighed as she stood up.

"Couldn't agree more." Elijah hummed, "I think I've got an idea of where we're heading."

*********************************

Once they had landed at the crime scene, Gideon, JJ, Reid and Elijah stood at the tree where the markings were.

"Morning. John Bridges." The sheriff nodded.

"Hi, yeah, we spoke on the phone." JJ shook his hand,"I'm Agent Jareau, this is Agent Gideon, Agent Dean and Dr Reid from the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit."

"Hi." Gideon shook John's hand.

"Thanks for coming out so fast. There was an in service in Charlottesville last year. Said if we ran into any unusual homicides we were supposed to calm you folks. Sooner rather than later."

"Yeah, you were right." Gideon nodded.

"So is this unusual enough?" John tilted his head.

"Well, it's certainly intriguing." Elijah shrugged as Reid bent down to examine the markings.

"You guys must get a lot of this, huh? Satanic stuff?"

"Not really." Gideon shook his head,"Who found the body?"

"Hiker found the first one on a trail. My deputies located this one while searching for evidence. Don't even know if it's a man or a woman." John sighed

"It's a man. The male pelvis is more narrow and the opening at the bottom is heart-shaped as opposed to oval." Reid looked up at him before back to the markings, tilting his head,"Melted wax?"

"Candle wax?" JJ asked.

"Candles are used in rituals." Reid nodded.

"And on birthday cakes." Elijah shook his head.

"Actually, they were originally used to protect the birthday celebrant from demons for the coming year. As a matter of fact, down to the forth century, Christianity rejected the birthday celebration as a Pagan ritual." Reid smiled.

"What kind of doctor are you?" John questioned.

"If this is a cult, you think they cared who the victim was?" Fleur walked over to Hotch and Morgan.

"Maybe, maybe not." Morgan shrugged.

"So we're talking about a blitz attack on a high risk victim, one who could defend himself with weapon picked up at the scene." Hotch lifted up a rock that had blood on it.

"Disorganized offender, could be a cult." Morgan nodded,"The Manson crime scenes were textbook disorganized murder."

"This looks like a heavily travelled area." Elle looked around.

"A lot of locals walk these paths, some tourists too." A nearby officer told her.

"If you were going to conduct a ritual killing would you do it in the middle of a travelled path?" Fleur raised a brow

"Well, if the other crime scene is a ritual site, where the pentagram is, i might blitz the victim and drag him to the other scene." Hotch crossed his arms.

"Why didn't they?" Elle sighed.

"Does L.O.D mean anything to you?" Gideon asked.

Reid shook his head,"I don't know any significance in satanism either."

"I would have Garcia research this L.O.D thing if I could get a call out." JJ sighed.

"Not much of a chance of that out here." John told her.

"Are there any cults in the area that you know about?" Gideon raised a brow,"Secret groups, people you see but don't know much about, people that tend to stick to themselves?"

"This is a very religious area. Church on Sundays, fellowship on Wednesday, Bible classes. If there was a secret group, I'd probably know about it." John looked at the youngest boys.

"That's an inherent contradiction." Reid shook his head.

"Excuse me?" John blinked.

"He means that if there was a group being secretive, you probably wouldn't know." Elijah told him.

"Look, people out here just want a quiet place to raise their kids. What I know is none of them are capable of doing this." John pointed.

"Well sir, I respectfully disagree." Elijah turned, heading back towards the others.

Hotch walked up,"Find anything interesting down there?"

"Yeah, it definitely looks like some sort of ritual site." Gideon nodded.

"Have any of you ever heard the expression Lod? Or the acronym, 'L.O.D.?" Reid asked.

"Not me." Fleur shook her head.

"Cherish? Cherish!" A woman ran up although she was stopped at the police tape, Sheriff Bridges!"

"It's okay Harris, let her in." John nodded.

"Was Adam Lloyd killed out here?" She questioned, walking under the police tape.

"Who told you that, Veronica?"

"Was he?"

"We're not releasing-"

"My daughter was with him, they were together!" Veronica pointed,"They went running this morning and now, God, I can't find her. Cherish is missing! Help me, please!"

"Okay, you need to calm down." John sighed.

"We're looking for someone who can overpower a victim, abduct a girl from a travelled path withoutbeing scene." Gideon turned to the group.

"Certainly fits cult theory. More than one Unsub can control multiple victims." Reid nodded.

"But if the attack were ferocious enough, a single Unsub could too. Kill Adam and grab the girl while she's in shock." Hotch crossed his arms.

Morgan and Fleur walked back over,"This is some rough country. We only went a quarter of a mile and we almost got lost."

"The Unsub has to be from this area, you don't just stumble onto a place like this." Morgan agreed.

"JJ, where did the sheriff go?" Elijah asked.

"He's searching up a search party." JJ walked over.

"Tell him we want to use volunteers from the area, locals." Gideon turned to her.

"Do you want him to know why?" JJ raised a brow.

"No, not yet." Gideon shook his head, chuckling.

"Is it wise to alienate him?" Fleur turned.

"Well, he thinks we're looking for a monster. If we tell him we're looking for volunteers so we can profile who shows up, he might call the whole thing off." Elijah crossed his arms before leaning closer to Fleur,"And I don't think he likes me very much."

"He can sense some things." Fleur hummed.

"Clearly." Elijah rolled his eyes.

"Then again, it's quite obvious." Fleur cleared her throat.

"Shut up." Elijah nudged her.

Fleur chuckled,"I didn't say anything."

"I am not deaf."

"What was that?" Fleur began walking away,"I can't hear you over the loudness of how noticeable you are."

"You are not so discreet yourself, young lady." Elijah hummed,"Or should I reveal to everyone that you-"

Fleur kicked some gravel towards him.

"Hey, don't disrupt the crime scene." Elijah chuckled.

*********************************

"I don't like the look of this office." Fleur looked around.

"Me either, I feel like I'm being watched." Elijah sighed.

"I don't know why." Fleur slowly shook her head, gesturing to his pink attire.

"I think I look fabulous, it's just because they can't pull it off." Elijah rolled his eyes.

"Mhm." Fleur nodded while Reid walked over.

"Did you tell Hotch about my nightmares?"

"What- No." Elijah shook his head.

"He knows." Reid sighed.

"Well, that's okay. You need to talk about these things, Spencer." Elijah patted his shoulder.

Reid looked at him as JJ walked in.

"They're ready."

As everyone sat down, Hotch spoke,"Contrary to popular belief, there has never been a proven case of a Satanic ritual killing, never a verified human sacrifice. Having said that, there have been isolated cases of animal sacrifice. And many, many cases of vandalism in the name of Satan."

"Now that doesn't mean that ritual Satanism is impossible. And more importantly, for our purposes, there have been cults that have killed. Just not in ritual fashion." Morgan told them.

"The Reverend Jim Jones and the People's Temple. His followers killed a U.S Congressman and three people before committing mass suicide, leaving over nine hundred people dead. And perhaps the most widely known of killer cults the Manson Family, under the direction of Charles Manson, killed nine people in a four fay period in an attempt to initiate a race war." Reid explained.

"Killer cults do exist and they all have one thing in common. Invariably, they're headed by charismatic megalomaniacs." Elle crossed her arms.

"You're looking for that leader. He's who will stand out. He'll he memorable to somebody. People who aren't in his group will see him as strange, weird and scary." Reid nodded.

"Since we're dealing with professed Satanists, which is often practiced by young males, we may be looking for teenagers." Elijah spoke up,"Heavy metal music is often associated with Satanism and these kids may reflect that in their look."

"Most likely they'll be sex, drugs and alcohol. Now as the leader, he'll be older. It's part of his charm." Fleur shrugged.

"And he is from this area, he's definitely local." Elijah added, causing some of the officers to look up from their notepads.

"These woods are too thick and confusing for a visitor to get around in." Fleur quickly spoke.

"You think one of our own people is doing this?" John crossed his arms.

"We're sure of it." Elijah nodded.

"I would know if someone was capable.." John sighed.

"Dad." The sheriff's son, Cory, spoke up,"I know someone like that."

"What's his name?" Morgan turned to him.

"His name is Mike Zizzo. He graduated about five years ago. He's in his twenties vut he still hangs around with high school kids." Cory told him,"He's got a group of them, they follow him everywhere. They all get high and listen to heavy metal. He calls them the Lords of Destruction."

"L.O.D." Reid realized.

Elijah leaned back in his chair, studying Cory as the Sheriff spoke up,"Cory, how do you know all this? It's alright, son."

"I've been there... Where they hang out, drinking beers. He talks about Satan all the time, says he's the one true God." Cory sighed.

"Where is this place?" Gideon asked.

"On the other side of the mountain. The old Jenson house."

"It's out of my jurisdiction." John shook his head.

"Not ours." Hotch shrugged.

"I'm sorry, dad." Cory sighed as they all walked out.

*********************************

Fleur and Elijah sat in the interview room, with the sheriff, Zizzo in front of them.

"So is someone gonna tell me why I'm here or are we gonna sit and play staring games all night?" Zizzo asked.

"This was found where Cherish Hanson went missing." Fleur got out the note.

"No wonder why everyone's freaking out. McCallister's perfect debutant is in trouble." Zizzo crossed his arms.

"Just read the note." Elijah nodded to it

Zizzo looked up at Elijah before picking up the note, starting to snicker at it.

"You think someone threatening to kill this girl is funny?" Fleur tilted her head.

"No, I think someone calling Cherish Hanson a virgin is funny." Zizzo looked at her, setting the note down.

"You a satanist, Mike?" John asked.

"Sure." Zizzo shrugged.

"You worship the devil?"

"You even know what Satanism is?" Zizzo raised a brow.

"Educate him, please." Elijah sighed, leaning against the wall.

"The word, Satan comes from Hebrew. It means opposer. Satan opposes the hypocritical morals and dogma of the so called Holy Church and its followers. If you grew up in this town with God shoved down your throat every day, you'd oppose it too. It's all hypocrisy. Do this, don't do that, and all that time the adults were the ones screwing up. So basically we're just Atheists. Aggressively atheist." Zizzo explained, maintaining eye contact with the Sheriff.

Elijah had to resist every urge he had to agree with Zizzo as he sat some crim scene photos in front of him,"How aggressive, Mike?"

"What the hell is this?" Mike blinked.

"Why don't you tell us, Mike?"

"I've never seen this before." Mike shook his head.

"Pentagram, body, candles, L.O.D." Fleur listed.

"Lords of Destruction." John glared at him.

"I've never seen this." Mike insisted.

"From where I stand Mike, it looks like you signed it." Fleur shrugged.

"Look, we draw stars upside down, get drunk and listen to metal. That's it! We don't kill people, okay?" Zizzo shook his head.

"This is your chance to make this right, Zizzo." John nodded.

"You don't wanna make things right." Zizzo scoffed,"You wanna blame someone who doesn't conform to your view of how people should act and think."

Gideon then walked in,"I need to talk to you. All of you."

The group then walked into the Sheriff's office, closing the door behind them.

"I've been with Brandy Dreifort. Do you know her?" Gideon asked John.

"Yeah, she's a friend of my son's." John shrugged.

"She's a friend of Cherish's too."

"And?"

"Well, they all knew about the skeleton." Gideon told him.

"Who did?"

"Football team, cheerleaders, everybody. They all watched this man decompose like it was some game for their amusement." Gideon shook his head.

"There really is nothing else to here, is there?" Elijah muttered.

"What?" Fleur blinked.

"Far as I can tell, the only kids who didn't know were Mike Zizzo and the L.O.D."

"It's ridiculous." John shook his head.

"Well, it's impossible and unbelievable but she told me all about it." Gideon shrugged,"The guy was a hiker or something. You've probably got him listed as a missing person somewhere."

"Jason, how do you know the L.O.D. wasn't involved?" Hotch asked.

"She said the pentagram and the candles weren't there a few months ago."

"Which means?" John raised a brow.

"Someone wanted us to believe there were Satanists here." Gideon answered,"The Unsub likes to inject himself into the investigation, that's what this type of killer does. Who gave us Zizzo? Who knew all about him?" Gideon asked.

"You're talking about Cory.." John shook his head.

"It's awfully convenient, wasn't it? We were lucky enough to have a kid in the room to tell us where the L.O.D was." Elijah crossed his arms,"A group of fringe kids that nobody in this town would like."

"But.."

"You called us here to advise you. Here's my advice. Get in front of this and stop your son before he hurts himself or anyone else." Elijah pointed,"Do you know where he is, sheriff?"

"He went up to the Jenson house to see if your guys found anything on Cherish." John sighed.

"Morgan and Reid are out there right now." Fleur realised.

"Of course they are." Elijah shook his head, nearly walking into another officer as he went to leave.

"Sorry- Sheriff, did you open the gun locker?" The officer asked.

"No?" John raised a brow.

"Well, someone did. There's a revolver missing."

"Wow, I wonder how that happened." Elijah looked at John before he left.

"We need to go." Fleur cursed, following after Elijah.

"What are you standing there for? Let's go." Gideon urged John as he and Hotch left.

*********************************

Reid sat down on the plane, rubbing his temple as he did.

"Can't sleep?" Elijah asked, sitting beside him, the rest of the plane was quiet and there were few lights on.

Reid shook his head,"I'd rather... Not sleep."

"..I get them too." Elijah admitted.

"You do?" Reid looked at him.

"More frequently than I'd like to admit." Elijah chuckled softly.

"I'm sorry." He sighed.

"Don't be." Elijah shook his head,"We all get them, it happens."

"They've been happening too frequently now." Reid admitted.

"Do you want to talk about them?" Elijah asked slowly.

"I... Just promise me that you'll always be there?"

"Of course I will." Elijah assured him,"I wouldn't dream of leaving you."

"Thanks Eli." Reid smiled.

Elijah nodded slowly,"Mine are... About this one case I did, back when I was only in hostage negotiations."

Reid turned to him,"Mhm?"

"I thought I'd gotten through to him, convinced him to stop." Elijah sighed,"When I walked into the cabin, he'd killed himself and his hostage... Her name was Michelle."

"I'm sorry, Elijah." Reid sighed.

"She was only seventeen.. I'll never forget her." Elijah shook his head,"Her face... Her voice over the phone.."

"You tried your best."

"It just feels like my best isn't enough."

"It's always enough if you try." Reid assured him.

Elijah smiled softly,"Talking about it doesn't make it better but... You do."

"I try to help the best I can." Reid shrugged.

"And I appreciate you for that."

Reid leaned backwards and slowly closed his eyes. He felt comfortable around Elijah, safe.

Elijah smiled softly,"Goodnight, Spencer."

"Night, Elijah." Reid hummed