Criminal Minds - Hark 2/3 [Gen - Reid, BAU; T]

[batgurl88]

Title: Hark 2/3
Fandom: Criminal Minds
Rating: Teen
Summary: A child murder case darkens the BAU's Christmas, causing Reid to question his way of thinking.
Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds, 'It's a Wonderful Life', 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas', or 'A Christmas Carol'.

A/N: I wrote this last year - my first attempt at a Christmas fic, and a complete monster to finish. This is set sometime between Elle's departure and Emily's arrival. Posted in three parts because LJ is being a pain. Finally, Groverton, Pennsylvania is a fictional place.

Part I   Part II   Part III

 

"34th Street - what's your miracle?"

 

Morgan allowed himself a small chuckle as he adjusted his grip on the phone.

 

"Princess, you know you're a miracle all on your own. Did you get anything off of the surveillance footage?"

 

He could hear her fingers clicking rapidly across the keyboard as she replied.

 

"I'm sending you the video right now. It looks like our scumbag approached Tyler when his mom's back was turned."

 

Derek turned to his laptop, which had begun playing the footage, the image of a busy department store appearing onscreen. He could see the boy lagging behind his mother in the crowd, wide-eyed at all of the busy excitement around him. A man in a dark coloured jacket walked up to him, an action figure in his hand, and pointed to something off-screen. He handed Tyler the toy and guided him off into the crowd. The entire interaction took less than thirty seconds.

 

"What happened next?" He prompted the tech-goddess.

 

"He led our boy to the nearest parking lot exit. There aren't any cameras outside of the building, so no lucky shots of a vehicle. And he kept his head down the whole time, so I couldn't get a clear shot of his face, but I did manage to get a partial grab just as he was leaving."

 

A blurry new image filled the screen, depicting the unsub with his head turned back over his shoulder in the direction of Tyler's mother as he led the boy away. Morgan sighed, rubbing a hand across his eyes tiredly. It was an obstructed picture, not enough for a good identification, but they'd done more with less.

 

"Alright, Baby Girl. Stay beautiful."

 

"As if there's any doubt."

 

- ~ * ~ -

 

The town was bustling with people, colourful decorations coating every store window and streetlight as they drove along the snowy road. Morgan sighed as he stared out the window of the SUV, watching as a middle-aged couple bogged down with shopping bags greeted a Salvation Army Santa. It never failed to amaze him how life could continue on so normally during their cases. Young boys were being murdered, and the town hadn't changed a bit. Even after JJ's press briefing the previous day, calling for anyone with leads to come forward, the atmosphere of the medium-sized city had remained infused with holiday cheer. Children were running up and down the sidewalk, lobbing snowballs at each other, not a care in the world. How could they all act as if nothing was happening? How could they just ignore it?

 

That’s the holiday spirit at work, Morgan mused bitterly. Act like everything’s fine, no matter how messed-up the world really is.

 

It had never sat right with him how people treated the holiday like a fix-all. In his mind, it was naïve to act like one day could make the world a better place. Bad guys didn’t stop being bad just because people hung lights on their houses.

 

Derek's thoughts were interrupted as Gideon turned the car into a busy parking spot. The two profilers got out, making their way through the crowd of people. The park where the first abduction had taken place was near the middle of the city, and was filled with activity. A small ice rink had been set up on one end, children and couples gliding cheerfully across the shiny surface. Christmas light displays were set up throughout the area, unlit during the day. On the other side of the park were lines of horse-drawn carriages, waiting patiently for customers.

 

Jason led the way towards the scene of the abduction. Dillon Mackelray had been visiting the park with his parents six weeks ago when he was taken. According to the boy's mother, Dillon had shown an interest in the horses, and had gone for a closer look. His parents had been in discussions with a carriage driver about taking a tour of the city's decorations when Dillon's father had noticed he was missing.

 

Checking the file in his hand once more, Gideon led Morgan towards the furthest buggy to the right. The writing on the side of the carriage read 'Wilcox Horse & Buggy' - the buggy the Mackelray's had been soliciting. A stout man in a black winter jacket and top hat was checking the tacking on the grey mare when they approached.

 

"Excuse me, I'm Agent Gideon, this is Agent Morgan - we're with the FBI. Is this your carriage?"

 

The man turned, frowning. "Yeah, it's mine."

 

"You're Edward Ramsey?" Gideon questioned, consulting his file again. "You were working here the morning of November thirteenth?"

 

"Call me Ed," the man replied. "And if this is about that kid that went missing a couple weeks ago, I already talked to the police."

 

Derek met his gaze. "Do you remember seeing a man hanging around that day? Anyone that seemed to be paying a lot of attention to the kids here? Maybe standing around the carriages?"

 

Ramsey shrugged. "There're lots of people hanging around here. They're all skating and petting the pretty horses. It's a busy season."

 

Morgan held out the blurry printout Garcia had sent them.

 

"He look familiar to you?"

 

Ed took the picture from the agent, inspecting it briefly.

 

"Yeah, that's Lenny Hansen," he replied, handing the photo back.

 

Gideon and Morgan exchanged a glance.

 

"You know him?" Gideon pressed.

 

"Sure - he does odd-jobs around the city. Fixes the carriages for extra money. ‘Lotta breakdowns during this season, with the snow and all. He takes 'em and patches them up right again. Pretty cheap, too. Used to be a carpenter."

 

Morgan was already on the phone with Garcia, turning away from the other two as he gave her the name to run. Gideon turned his attention back to Ed.

 

"Do you happen to know where Lenny is right now?"

 

"Well, if he's not somewhere around here, he's at home," the carriage driver replied, turning back to his horse. "Between you and me, the guy doesn't have a whole lot going on in his life."

 

- ~ * ~ -

 

The police car pulled up behind their SUV just as Hotch was stepping out of it, Reid following suit on the other side. The driveway was long and winding, the house surrounded by a sparse forest of trees, neatly sprinkled with freshly fallen snow. Further up the driveway, a man in a red winter coat was loading firewood into the back of a pickup truck. He turned upon their approach, still some feet away as the police officers exited the patrol car behind them. Hotch stepped forward.

 

"Leonard Hansen?"

 

The man didn't wait for Aaron to pull out his badge - an instant later he was running towards the woods next to his house, Hotch in quick pursuit.

 

The inch of crunching snow beneath their feet did little to impede either man, merely accentuating their rapid footsteps as they raced through the cold winter afternoon. Hotch could hear Officer Martin not far behind him, while Reid and Officer Dubois brought up the rear, the latter radioing for backup as he followed.

 

Hansen knew the territory well, but Hotch was a fast and determined runner. He kept pace with him easily, darting around the occasional tree or snowdrift with practiced ease. They were nearing a rocky hill, and Aaron wondered whether there was a plan in mind or if this was simply panic running. The suspect began to climb, his pace slowing as he was forced to find footholds in the stony escarpment. Hotch reached the bottom, hesitating for only an instant before racing up the snow-covered hill. His foot slipped on an icy stone, causing him to lose his balance, but he quickly recovered, his hands groping in front of him as precaution.

 

Hansen was only a foot or two ahead of him now, having nearly reached the top of the mount. Turning quickly on heel to gauge the progress of his pursuers, Lenny lost his footing on an ice-coated rock. Hotch watched as he struggled for a moment to regain his balance before crying out as he vanished over the side. Mere seconds behind him, Aaron reached the top, ensuring he had a steady footing before peering over the edge.

 

Lenny Hansen was spread-eagled at the base of the hill some feet below, his head caved in from bashing against the rocks as he fell. Hotch could do little more than stare at the sight as Officer Martin came up next to him. After everything they'd gone through the past four days, their one lead to finding Tyler was gone.

 

Hotch turned and began making his way back down as Officer Martin radioed the status of their suspect. Reid and Officer Dubois were some feet away, their running slowing to a confused stop at his actions. Aaron numbly trekked past them, walking back in the direction of the house, ignoring Reid's inquiries as to what had happened as sirens wailed in the distance.

 

- ~ * ~ -

 

"How do we even know if he was the right guy?" JJ asked, her eyes sweeping the small kitchen the team was inspecting. "Do we have any proof besides the carriage driver's statement?"

 

"For right now, we have to assume that he was," Gideon replied, fingering through Hansen's day planner. "We have to exhaust every lead; our victim might not have very long."

 

Hotch stiffened slightly. The house and surrounding woods had been searched from top to bottom, but there had been no sign of Tyler Fibbs. The previous victims had shown signs of exposure, and with Hansen dead there was no way to be sure Tyler had access to a viable food source. Every second was precious.

 

Reid stood near the kitchen table, sifting through papers. "He certainly wasn't very organized. It'll take hours to go through all of this."

 

"Somewhere in here is a clue as to where he was keeping them." Hotch stated as he inspected a nearby bookshelf. "We just have to get inside his head."

 

Officer Martin stepped into the room. "CSU just found a pair of knives in the garage. They're clean, but we found some blood on the rags they were wrapped in. I just sent it to be processed."

 

JJ glanced up at the officer, moving to help Reid sift through the papers. "Good. With any luck, it'll match one of the first two victims."

 

She glanced sideways at Spencer, whose face had darkened. He ignored her questioning look and picked up another pile of papers, rapidly reading through them.

 

"Garcia just sent over the bio on Leonard Hansen," Morgan informed them, earning the attention of the profilers. "He used to run a carpentry shop downtown. It went under about a year ago. His wife, Tanya, filed for divorce three months later. It was finalized at the beginning of November. Get this - the couple also has a son - seven years old - named Joseph. The judge asked Joseph who he'd prefer to live with, and he chose the mother."

 

Hotch frowned, his eyes on something behind Morgan. He walked towards the filing cabinet that lay there, picking up the framed photograph that sat atop it, inspecting it for a moment. Turning back to the curious team, he held the picture up for them to see.

 

"Look familiar?"

 

The photo showed Lenny standing next to a young, sandy-haired boy, the pair of them standing in front of a run-down stretch of buildings. Lenny was smiling; the boy was not.

Hotch pulled the back of the frame off, reading the caption scribbled on the backside of the photo paper. "'Leonard and Joey, 2005.'"

 

"So he was kidnapping kids that looked like his son?" There was more than a hint of disgust in JJ's voice as she eyed the photograph. Beside her, Reid's grip on the papers in his hands intensified.

 

Gideon sighed tiredly, picking up an address book. "Well, we know why he did it. We just have to figure out where he did it."

Part III