"I'm loving the dress." Fleur hummed as she, Morgan and Garcia walked into the BAU.

Garcia came up with the idea of going to London to visit Emily, she invited Elijah but he declined the offer. So Morgan and Fleur went with her.

"Thank you very much." Garcia hummed before looking at Morgan,"But you never gave your vote on who should get what."

"Give Reid and Elijah the matching mugs." Morgan nodded.

"Really? That means JJ gets the double-decker bus." Garcia told him.

"I thought that was for Kevin." Fleur blinked.

"No, we're not talking right now." She shook her head.

"Garcia, you guys were just talking yes- Nevermind."

"Wait, where is everybody?" Garcia looked around,"Don't tell me they're still in Seattle."

"Hey! You guys are back." JJ smiled as she, Reid and Elijah walked in.

"Oi, mates. Gimme a squeeze." Garcia hugged them, putting on her attempt at an English accent.

"You guys look good." JJ hummed, hugging Morgan.

"Eli." Fleur smiled.

"Hey stranger." Elijah hugged her,"How's Emily doing?"

"Brilliant and lovely." Garcia continued with her accent.

"Her apartment is off the chain." Fleur nodded.

"You mean her flat. You have to take a shaky old lift to get to the top, but the view is brilliant." Garcia then handed the boys their mugs,"For my favourite blokes."

"I love it! Thank you!" Reid took it.

"I've always wanted one of these." Elijah chuckled.

"Well, now you do." Fleur hummed.

"How was temporary duty?" Reid asked.

"Oh, it was around the clock. I thought we'd get a little more of a vacation, but.." Morgan shrugged.

"Did you watch the Olympics at all?' Elijah tilted his head.

"I did see a little track and field, but the Queen Bees here saw everything." Morgan pointed.

"Emily is real hooked up for sure. She sends her love and tea of the month starts next week." Garcia hummed.

"Oh..I miss her." JJ sighed.

"Don't even get me started." Garcia shook her head,"So, how's the newb? Is she nice?"

"Yeah, she is." JJ nodded.

"I'm just asking. Reid, do you know she was recruited when she was twenty-four?"

"I've guest lectured in her forensic linguistics class before." Reid hummed.

"Of course you have, 'cause she's a professor and an agent which is so impressive." Garcia rolled her eyes.

"No, really, she's great." JJ assured them.

"Mhm, and driven, clearly. Berkley grad, double major, bureau star of the Unabomber case and she teaches at Georgetown. And when she's not doing that, she's SSA-ing at the Washington Field Office and she has her PHD. Does that mean I have to call her doctor? What? I did some research on her because I couldn't sleep on te plane. And my point is, clearly she is smart and capable but is she nice?" Garcia ranted.

"Garcia." Elijah cleared his throat, looking to the side.

"Oh dear God, this is happening, where I talk and the person is behind..Me." Garcia turned around.

"The origin of 'nice' is 12th century Middle-English meaning 'foolish' or 'stupid'." Blake told her,"I hope you're referring to the modern use of the adjective. You must be Penelope. I'm Alex Blake."

"Nice to meet yoy.. Really, actually nice, in the nicest of ways nice." Garcia whispered.

"Fleur Howards." Fleur hummed and held out her hand.

"Welcome back." Blake shook her hand.

"And I'm Derek Morgan..How was Seattle?"

"The Unsub made Ridgeway look like a saint. He even used his own kid to bait victims." Blake shook her head.

"Well, we've seen that before. No doubt we'll see it again." Morgan nodded.

"Don't unpack." Rossi pointed as he walked past.

"Garcia, the files." Hotch walked past as well.

"Yeah- The files. Oh god." Garcia sighed as she walked off.

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

"A few hours ago there was a prison transfer to the county hospital in Abilene, Texas. The ambulance crashes and the prisoner escaped." Hotch began to explain as Strauss handing out filed.

"He's wearing the EMT uniform and he's armed with the guard's weapon." Strauss added.

"Aren't the US Marshals on this?" Rossi asked.

"Yes, they are, but they need your help because this is what they found inside." Strauss put some footage on the screen,"The EMT and the driver died in the accident. The guard, however, suffocated."

"What's on his mouth?" Alex looked up.

"It was sewn shut." Strauss sighed.

"So the prisoner is The Silencer." Fleur realised.

"Or the guys a copycat." Rossi suggested.

"Forensics confirmed it's the same unique double knot ligature he used in all three murders." Hotch sighed.

"His last known victim was in 2004 and he was never caught." Reid told them.

"So he didn't go dormant by choice. He was locked up." JJ nodded.

"Well, why not just escape?" Morgan asked,"If he hadn't sewn the guards mouth shut, we would never know it was him."

"He wants us to know he's back." Rossi nodded.

"We've got his face. What's his name?" Elijah raised a brow.

"John Doe. He was pulled over in 04 for a traffic violation. No registration, no tags. He carried no ID." Hotch explained.

"No way he did eight years for that." Blake looked down at her file.

"They searched the car and found a gun with a Silencer."

"A silencer. He was practically telling them who he was and nobody made the connection." Rossi pointed.

"It's a federal offense, carries a 30 year minimum sentence. But it was actually what he did inside that guaranteed him life without parole." Hotch sighed.

"He killed two men while inside." JJ read from the file.

"And never said a word." Reid nodded.

"Mhm, he spoke with his fists." Blake shook her head.

"Remaining silent for eight years takes a hell of a lot of self restraint." Morgan sighed.

"Maybe it was a conditioned response." Elijah suggested.

"Garcia's gathering all the files from '04. We'll catch up on the plane. Wheels Up in 30." Hotch walked off.

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

"Did any of you work on The Silencer case?" Blake asked as she looked through the file.

"That was during my extended sabbatical." Rossi hummed.

"We all consulted, but nobody made the trip to Texas." Hotch told her.

Alex looked at them all, who all gave a small nod in agreement

"Why not? Three women in four months. It's a textbook kill rate. An undeniable signature. Obvious surrogates." She questioned.

"We weren't invited by the local police." Hotch chuckled.

"Aren't you tired of that?"

"Welcome to our world." Fleur hummed.

"The women he killed were beaten and left in open ditches. That physical representation of his anger is missing this time around." Morgan pointed.

"He must do something else that satisfies him." JJ sighed.

"The signature is the same, but his victimology couldn't be more different. The guard was clearly a victim of necessity but if he's in need-driven behavior like sewing mouths shut, how cab he control that and only do it to the guard?" Reid raised a brow.

"Maybe he just ran out of time." JJ shrugged.

"Or he could want the guard to suffer in silence." Elijah suggested.

"Literally makes his victims shut up." Fleur sighed.

"It seems obvious, but, uh, there might be something to that." Hotch nodded.

"Then the question is why?" Blake asked.

"Morgan, you, Howards and JJ go to the M.E. Reid, you, Deans and Dave check out John Doe's cell. Blake and I will head to the US Marshals." Hotch instructed.

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

"Everything points to a solitary existence. You know, interestingly enough, the most worn book is The Count of Monte Cristo." Reid looked around the cell, picking up the book.

"Of course it is. The hero's only reason for living was to seek vengeance. Maybe he relates." Rossi shrugged.

"It's in French." Reid tilted his head.

"I didn't see that coming." Elijah blinked as he picked up a journal,"Looks like he wrote a lot, too"

"He's been pent up physically and verbally far too long." Reid nodded.

"So he gets into his first fight within days of coming here. Got him put into a weeks worth of solitary." Rossi began.

"That pattern escalated until he eventually killed an inmate, got out of solitary and killed another." Reid added.

"So he silences his victims before he gets inside. His actions get him silence while in here." Elijah nodded slowly,"Ironic?"

"Fortunious. Looks like he has two forms of expression, silence and rage. We need to find out why he's operating in these extremes. Maybe it's in his writings." Reid nodded.

Rossi nodded as he and the two boys scooped up the journals and writings of John Doe before exiting the cell.

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

"The suture is six zero nylon, P three needle, 13 millimeter long, three eighth circle. A dozen of these would come in a box." The conorner sighed.

"The suture drawer was empty on the ambulance." Morgan recalled.

"Then he's got a lot more." She sighed.

"His technique isn't like a mortician." JJ shook her head,"It looks like the stitching is strictly through the lips."

"It's rather crude what he's done. You see how the nylon is stretched? The victim struggled, which says rhe prisoner did it while this guy was still alive."

"Torture, just like the first victims." JJ sighed.

"Well, now that you've seen his handiwork, I'll open his mouth." She nodded, cutting the thread from his mouth.

However, when she cut the threads and opened up the guard's mouth, she pulled out a plastic bag with a note inside that had previously been stuck inside his mouth.

"Gazing through to the other side." Fleur looked at rhe note.

"That's not much of a taunt. Maybe it's not for us." JJ looked between them.

"Then who?" Fleur sighed.

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

"Blake." She nodded as she answered her phone.

"Hey, it's Howards." Fleur hummed.

"Get another note?" Blake asked.

"Mhm."

"Mind if I put you on speaker?"

"That's how we do it." Fleur nodded,"Waiting on the taste of honey, the smell of summer."

"And the sight of the other side." Blake finsihed,"Three of the senses. We're only missing sound and touch."

"This guys like Jeykll and Hyde. Writes a decent thought and then sews it in a mouth." Fleur sighed.

"Whatever he is, he's romanticizing the hell out of this." Blake shook her head,"Thanks Howards."

"Sure." Fleur hung up.

"Gazing through to the other side, waiting on the taste of honey, the smell of summer." Reid repeated,"Do you think he's telling us about a place?"

"Well, it sounds like it. But..Where?" Blake walked over to the board.

"That's what we need to figure out." Elijah sighed.

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

"We can't tell you exactly where this Unsub's going, or what he's thinking, but his actions will betray his intentions." Hotch began the profile.

"And how's that?" Tilghman asked.

"Esrlier tonight at the gas station, he could've stolen money but the cash register wasn't empty. That tells us that hes not planning a long road rrip and yet he's logical enough to be in survival mode." He explained.

"So logic tells him to escape, I get that. But what the hell makes him sew mouths shut?" Tilghman sighed.

"It's a compulsion over which he has no control."

"So how do we stop him?" He asked.

"Well, truth shows itself through actions. What's this guy's truth. He feels silenced." Morgan nodded,"Agent Hotchner has a theory that he has a speech impediment that made him reluctant to talk. He may have been teased relentlessly for it."

"His prior victims tell us a woman, likely a mother figure, is to blame. Chances are she was abusive and convinced him that whatever words he had were worthless." JJ continued.

"This guy hasn't spoken a word in eight years. Could he be mute?" Tilghman asked.

"Definitely not." Blake shook her head.

"You sound pretty damn sure."

"He refers to IPA in a few of his personal writings." Blake nodded.

"What's IPA?" He questioned.

"International phonetic alphabet. It represents only those qualities of speech that are in spoken language. It's proof that he's able to hear which means most likely he can talk but chooses not to." Fleur explained.

"Then what's he use it for?" Tilghman asked.

"He uses multiple languages, which highlights his desire to communicate. IPA is an interesting choice. I've found that those who understand something as detailed as that are also proficient in sign language." Blake sighed.

"So these words that he's leaving in these mouths are directly taunting us?"

"These messages, they've not been analysed yet." Blake told him.

"Not to change the subject, but he's incredibly well read, which tells us that he most likely grew up in isolation, with literature being his only escape." Reid continued,"His own writings are not as profound, and despite his reading comprehension, we don't believe he's had an extended education."

"Everything about his psychosis says the spoken word has value. It also greatly angers him." Rossi added.

"And if he was yelled at or made to feel stupid, he held onto his anger until he snapped." Elijah nodded.

"So why hasn't he fled the area?" Tilghman asked.

"Well, he could be on a mission. We just don't know if that mission includes a person or place." JJ answered,"But we do know that his target is close to here."

"Thank you." Hotch hummed.

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

"Okay, so he leaves words until today. Maybe he's closer to what he's looking for?" JJ looked around.

"He could have already found it." Morgan suggested,"If he feels satisfied, he may disappear."

"Mm.. We're too close to let that happen." Blake shook her head.

"Alright, then we go back to the first kills. Three women, late 40s, all working class. Mothers, brunettes, beaten and left in a ditch. That was his message. He hated them." Hotch sighed.

"Maybe he's not targeting women any more because he's already killed the person he blames." Elijah crossed his arms.

"Most likely his mother." Fleur nodded.

"We should have Garcia run all the victims names again." Hotch reached forward and called her.

"At your service." Garcia answered.

"Pull up the '04 victims."

"Done."

"Alright, we need a list of their children." He told her.

"Okay..Next of kin, state welfare, give me a sec. Gotcha! Okay, some of them were put into foster care after their moms died, runaways, truancy, not good." She typed.

"Any incarcerated?" Hotch asked.

"A handful. Do you have any more parameters?"

"Uh, not yet. Just send us the list." He nodded.

"Coming at you now." Garcia hummed, hanging up.

"Alright, let's look at the first victim."

"Julie Meyers." Fleur pointed.

"Three boys. Mark, Greg and John. Born '70, '72 and '74. History of truancy. Child services lost track of them." Hotch read out.

"Is there any family history of Cajun French?" Blake suggested.

"Yeah. Julie Myers was born in New Orleans." He told her.

"Could explain his interest in the language." Blake nodded in agreement.

"Let's jump ahead to his most recent behavior." Morgan picked up the bag containing the notes,"He leaves all this behind. Is it his version of surrender?"

"What's the medical tape for? He didn't use it on any of the victims." Rossi questioned.

"Yet it was important enough for him to steal it from the ambulance." Elijah crossed his arms,"Maybe he's using it on himself. We said that he may have some kind of nerve damage. If that's the case, his eye won't shut by itself. Maybe he needs to tape it down."

"It's his left eye, the same side where the recent scars are." Hotch mentioned.

"Under his ear." JJ nodded slowly,"What if he was trying to stop from hearing?"

"That's pretty severe, taking a knife to your own head." Rossi sighed.

"He may have had an implant." Blake spoke up,"The electronic pulses enhance natural sound. If all he wants is peace, an implant is like having a speaker that goes to eleven."

"That was fast." Garcia answered the phone as hotch called her.

"Any of the children have a cochlear implant?" Hotch raised a brow.

Garcia typed,"Uh.. 1988, John Myers."

"He was fourteen at the time." Hotch nodded.

"Yeah, his mom was paid 650 bucks for the medical trial."

"Was he deaf before that?" Morgan questioned.

"Had to be in order to participate. Yikes. It was a highly experimental procedure. It was tested on humans and not animals. Caused quite the controversy." Garcia informed them.

"So mom gives him the gift of hearing and it turns out to be a curse." Rossi pointed.

"Spent his first fourteen years in silence, gets lost in a world through books, learns languages, anything to escape." Reid explained.

"He's content, and then his mom gets paid to use him as a guinea pig.. And now he can't turn the noise off." Blake shook her head.

"He blamed her and wanted her to suffer." Fleur sighed.

"These messages don't have a sense of geography, so he isn't leaving us a road map to his happy place." Rossi shook his head.

"They rarely do." Reid sighed.

"I don't think the writing is his own." Blake commented.

"You said it wasn't written in any literature." JJ looked at them.

"The phrasing is unnatural to the written word. It's like an oral recollection." She explained.

"Like a campfire story about paradise." Fleur nodded.

"One that he's searching for." Reid added.

"And if he can't find it, he'll kill again." JJ sighed.

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

After confronting John and him, unfortunately, taking his own life, the team headed back to the headquarters where Strauss was waiting for them.

"Don't tell me there's another one." Rossi pointed.

"There's always another one." Strauss shook her head.

"I told you we should have just gotten into our cars." Rossi told the others.

"Where are we off to now?" JJ asked.

"Home. You need to spend at least one night in your own beds." Strauss nodded.

"You don't have to tell me twice." Elijah turned around.

"Wait for me." Fleur hummed.

"Thanks." Reid nodded.

"That was weird." Fleur looked at Elijah.

"What was weird?" Elijah raised a brow.

"The way Strauss was looking at Alex." Fleur told him.

"I mean, from what I've heard, she worked her before. They've probably got history." He shrugged.

"Right. Hey- You're not coming?" Fleur turned to Derek.

"I'll just be a bit, you guys can head off without me." Morgan assured them.

"Okay, see you soon." Fleur kissed his cheek, turning to Elijah,"So have you spoke to Blake yet?"

"..Obviously." Elijah shook his head.

"Eli."

"No. No, I haven't."

"Reid seems to like her." Fleur hummed.

"I mean, it makes sense. They're both smart." Elijah sighed,"But she's so scary."

"She looks scary.. But I hope she's nice."

"Me too."

"Wanna come back to mine?" Fleur asked.

"What's in it for me?" Elijah raised a brow.

"Seeing your favourite niece?"

"I'm sold." He chuckled.

"Knew it would work." Fleur hummed.

"It always does." Elijah nodded.

"Come on." Fleur smiled as they headed off to their cars.