"Anyone can be a father but it takes someone special to be a dad"
-PeoplesQuotes-

Maya, Emily and JJ look into Hotch's office from Emily's desk and see Garcia talking with Hotch about a case they just got. "I so don't miss that face" JJ voices. "No matter how many cases we solve, there's always more" JJ adds and Maya nods in agreement as she watches Garcia and Hotch go back and forth.

"Insert Dr. Reid's statistic about active serial killers at any given time here" Emily says but the room falls completely silent which confuses Maya, so she looks over to Reid who is staring at Rossi across the room. "Reid" Maya calls out, but Reid continues to ignore the woman. "There's something wrong" Reid observes.

"Why do you say that?" JJ asks as she and Maya look over to Rossi who seems to be reading a book. "He's been reading the same page for 16 minutes and 24 seconds" Reid states and Maya raises her eyebrow and Emily taps her leg, "That's just what he does" Emily whispers before she scoots her chair up slightly to get more intel.

"Maybe, it's a really good book" Maya declares, arms crossed over her chest while tilting her head. "It's never taken him longer than 11 minutes, 17 seconds to turn a page" Reid states and Maya stammers over her words as she looks over to Reid.

"You know that?" Maya asks and Reid nods his head like what he said wasn't shocking.

"It's never taken you longer than 12 seconds to look at Derek when he walks into a room" Reid says softly and JJ and Emily snicker jokingly. "Shut up" Maya mumbles as she kicks Emily's chair. "What's your theory?" Maya asks, wanting to change the subject.

"I'm extrapolating probabilities as we speak" Reid says as he starts to roll up the sleeves his shirt. Derek walks in the room and Maya looks over to him as he meets with Rossi. "It only took you 2 seconds that time" Emily whispers in Maya's ear before she chuckles softly, making Maya roll her eyes jokingly.

"Rossi, could you help me with a consult for wildwood PD?" Derek asks, showing Rossi the file. Rossi raises his head, and he looks almost in shock but not about Derek's question, something else was wrong. "Uh, sure" Rossi mumbles and Maya knits her eyebrows in worry as she locks eyes with Emily who shrugs her shoulders, unsure of what to think.

"Is something going on?" Derek wonders but Rossi sits in silence looking around at the team as if he's on another planet. "How did it go the other night?" Emily asks playfully and Maya and Derek look between Rossi and Emily. "What about the other night?" Maya asks. "Are you okay?" Reid asks, looking down at Rossi with worry.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Rossi asks, slightly stammering over his words making it clear something is wrong with him. "You seem distracted" JJ voices. "I'm considering a... purchase" Rossi trails off as he looks down at the article he was reading, looking for any type of excuse.

"I'm not buying it" Maya states as she crosses her arms over her chest. "Yeah, what's really going on?" Derek asks. "Look, it was a late night with Ringo and not enough coffee" Rossi says before sipping the coffee from his mug. Maya and Emily tilt their head at the same time and analyze Rossi's behavior. "Think he's telling the truth?" Emily asks and Maya shrugs, "Could be but there's something more. I can't tell" Maya answers and Rossi smiles slightly, "You never will".

_____

Later, Garcia explains that many bodies have been found weighed down at the bottom of a popular lake. Worse, a camper was kidnapped in broad daylight after being struck from behind. There are a few witnesses that saw the attack from a distance. "If he's dumping the bodies in one location, it's a good bet the area means something to him" Rossi explains.

"He could live in or near the forest" Maya voices. "Unfortunately, Angeles national forest is 1,016 square miles of terrain, ranging in elevation from 1,200 to 10,064 feet" Reid rants and Maya narrows her eyes at him before looking away quietly.

"So, that means if the unsub is familiar with the area, Nick Skirvin could be anywhere" Emily concludes. Time for the BAU to start investigating.

_____

"With no apparent evident of physical violence or sexual assault, we could be looking at an unsub who gets off on the torture of drowning" Derek says as Maya pushes past him gently to get to her seat on the jet. "What's the significance to the water burial?" JJ wonders.

"Hard to say, If the dump sites doubling as his trophy collection, he won't be happy it's been disturbed and want to make a new one fast" Maya explains as she looks to Garcia who's on video call. Garcia informs the team that the camper's body has been found near the lake. Lake Banter.

"How was the body recovered so fast?" Maya asks, in shock. "It wasn't way down. Nicks body was just found at the edge of the lake by some campers" Garcia informs before Aaron asks her to start compiling a list of missing persons and crime in the area.

"Looks like he knew his burial was messed with" Maya mumbles as she leans back in her seat stressfully. "He adapted by venturing outside his comfort zone" Hotch adds on. "And his victimology changed" Emily says showing a picture of the recent victim, Nick compared to the other victims that were found. "They we're all dark haired, well-built men, but Nick is an average blond" Emily states.

The team continues to talk over the case trying to figure what this unsub is doing and what his next live could be but it's clear the unsub is going off script. Derek throws in the idea that the unsub could be playing tricks on them by choosing another lake which has doubled the size of his killing field... and the search area.

______

Maya, Hotch and Morgan went to the crime scene to check for any clues that could give them any more information about the unsub. "Here" Derek says as he holds out his hand, wanting Maya to grab it as they go up the small hill. "It's a hill not a cliff" Maya states as she stops in her tracks. "Just trying to help" Derek says, about to take his hand away before Maya grabbed it and proceeded to walk with him up the small hill.

One part of her wanted to let go but one part of her wanted to continue holding his hand. Her hand fit perfectly in his and she felt if she removed it, it would be like ruining a beautiful painting. They were the artwork, but Maya was the one going to ruin them.

Maya slowly but surely removed her hand from his before raising her head and locking eyes with Derek. "Uh, um" Maya trails off as she clears her throat and starts to look around. She inspects her surroundings and looks down at the ground seeing indication of dragging. "Look, you see that?" Maya asks as she starts to follow the trail that leads to the road and where Nick was buried.

Derek and Maya walk up to Hotch to deliver him the news they found out. "There's no waterway connecting the two lakes. It's 44 miles from the abduction site" Hotch adds before Maya sighs and looks around at her surroundings. "With the forest smack in between" Derek adds, practically saying what Maya was thinking.

"If he's dragging the victims, he could be too weak to carry them on his own" Maya declares as she looks between Derek and Hotch. "If you look at the weight class for all 4 victims, Nick is the smallest one out of all of them" Maya adds on to her statement. "Maybe he can't complete his ritual without the proper surrogate" Hotch believes.

"If that's the case, then killing Nick didn't get the unsub his release. He's already looking for his next victim" Derek concludes, and Maya shakes her head and lets out a sigh. It's going to be awhile.

______

The team meets up at the police station to discuss the case further and bring all their information together to possibly find a suspect or even get a profile. "We're definitely looking at a sadist" Maya declares as she relaxes in her seat while looking at the board that Reid has organized.

"Why the change from choking to multiple drowning?" JJ wonders. "With the damage to Jakes throat, the unsub wasn't able to successfully resuscitate him" Reid explains as Maya raises from her seat and goes to the board to get a good look at the victims and the crime scene photos.

"Resuscitating them makes him feel powerful... in control" Maya trails off as she thinks about her father and his strong demeanor that was almost scary. "That probably means he has no power in his everyday life" Rossi adds but Emily is still concerned about the change in victimology and thinks the unsubs sudden change is quite interesting.

"Nick Skirvin was the smallest, but he had the most defensive wounds on his body" Emily informs. "May be smallest, but he fought back the most" Maya adds as she analyzed the crime scene phots of Nick Skirvin.

"Maybe the unsub was injured in one of the attacks. He's targeting easier prey to complete his end game" Rossi says before his phone begins to ring, and he quickly exits the room which alarms everyone, but they proceed to go over the case.

While Spencer and Emily head to the morgue and JJ goes with Hotch and Rossi at the new crime scene. Morgan and Maya stay back at the station. Maya stands in the office, looking through the crime scene photos and starts rearranging them on the table to get an idea of how the unsub went from his first kill to his last and what changed drastically besides the victimology and the beating.

"Thought you could use some coffee" Derek says as he enters the office and sets the coffee mug down on the table. Maya smiles slightly before grabbing the mug and sipping her coffee, feeling all the stress leave her body as the coffee swam down her throat. This job could be so stressful that coffee is your only reason to keep working.

"You got any ideas?" Derek asks, looking down at the crime scene photos laid out on the table.

"Nothing new" Maya answers before she rests her body against the table and looks over to Derek who locks eyes with hers. As soon as Derek made eye contact, it was like no one else existed and that felt weird to him but it also felt kind of normal. Not many women could make Derek Morgan get butterflies in his stomach the way Regan has or is.

Maya, on the other hand, enjoyed his gaze. She felt comfortable but she was hesitant with hers. She didn't want to get too close to him or to anyone because she didn't want to get hurt or be the one hurting. Maya has spent most of her life in fear with no plan in life and when she looked at Derek, she saw something. Something special. A future and a good one too. She didn't know if he would be in it, but she saw one and that was good enough for her.

_____

Emily and Reid are back in the morgue to look over the body of the dead young woman. Emily notes that the victims are getting weaker and less connected with each other. She theorizes that the unsub is getting "desperate." The attendant then points out that blood was found on the body- blood with a very low white blood cell count. Perhaps the unsub is sick and knows that he is running out of time.

Hotch then gives the profile to the local PD. "We believe he is local to the area," he explains. "He's definitely experienced in CPR... He has accelerated his attack schedule."

_____

Back at police station, the results from the blood test have come back. The unsub is definitely dying of blood cancer. "Witnesses said Jake Shepherd, the first victim, was out on the lake for a baptism, right?" Derek asks and JJ nods her head, confirming his question.

"What if there's a religious or spiritual motivation to why the unsub is doing this?" Derek asks and Hotch pulls out his phone and calls Garcia who answers immediately.

Garcia then informs the team that the first male victim found in the lake famously survived a near death experience -- dying for four minutes after an ATV accident before being miraculously revived. Later, of course, he was killed by the unsub. A coincidence? Probably not.

"So, a terminally ill unsub targets a man who came back from the dead and then starts killing people immediately" Maya explains. "Is this guy trying to come to terms with his own death?" Maya wonders after multiple scenarios flood her mind. Hotch theorizes that the unsub is attempting to explore his own looming death.

"Is he bringing these victims back so he can talk to them?" Maya asks.

The team continues to discuss the strong possibility that the unsub is drowning and reviving people just to see if they experienced anything in the interim. Derek suggests that the unsub might have had his own near-death experience, and it was a bad one. Perhaps he is trying to see if others had the more clichéd "white light" encounter.

Of course, doing this over and over again to a victim usually results in their permanent death.

The team then gets a call: a woman and her son have gone missing. "He's abducted two at once. He needs to find a spot on the lake where he can control them" Hotch says over the phone since he's riding in a separate car with JJ and Rossi while Reid, Maya, Derek and Emily ride in another.

"It should be somewhere isolated that gives him the time he needs for his ritual" Maya answers into the phone.

"Reid, how would he keep them dead longer?" Rossi asks. "There's a saying in the medical community that you're not dead until you're warm and dead. Colder water temperatures could lead to hypothermia, which would offer the best chance for successful reanimation" Reid rants and Maya nods her head, taking in Ried's words.

Garcia then calls with news: a 16-year-old boy was buried alive by his father but escaped. Dad later died by his son's hand. That same son was also diagnosed with cancer. Seems as if the BAU team has found its man.

"He has been haunted his whole life by whatever he experienced that night," Emily observes. Maya clears her throat as she looks out the window of the car, "I know what that feels like" Maya mumbles before Derek looks at her through the rear-view mirror even though she wasn't looking back.

______

At the lake, the unsub, who has a coughing attack while attempting to drown the kidnapped teen. The teen manages to get free and swims to shore before running deep into the woods. The unsub follows. Second later, the BAU team arrives at the dock to find the unconscious mother.

"Help!" Someone screams from the woods making Maya and Emily stop in their tracks and quickly run towards the screaming. The team continues to race toward the cry just as the teenage boy is taken down by Chase, the unsub. Chase drags the teen into the water and Hotch, Maya and JJ arrive with guns drawn.

"Chase Whitaker! FBI!" Maya shouts as she points her gun towards the commotion in the water. "Stay back" Chase orders as he puts a knife to the teenage boy's neck. "I think you should let him go first" Maya demands as she walks closer to and closer towards the lake.

"You hurt him, you won't be alive long enough to know what he has to say" JJ declares but Chase demands answers and it looks as if he's not going down without a fight. "There are no answers. We don't get to know what happens" Maya states.

"My life has been one nightmare after another. I deserve to know" Chase demands as Maya slowly puts her gun away.

"I understand. I understand what it's like to not understand something. I know what it feels like to want something you can't have. What happened to you as a boy wasn't fair but... neither is this. Neither is hurting another boy fair" Maya explains, trying to talk Chase down because she knows what it feels like to have a shitty father.

After a few tense moments, Chase releases the boy and then plunges himself into the lake. He wanted to know what it felt like. He was ready to go so he went. Case Closed.

______

The team returns back to the BAU headquarters and almost everyone has left but Maya noticed Derek's office was still on, so she went to see if he was still in there and he was. He was sitting at his desk, finishing up some reports. "I thought you left" Derek says as he greets Maya at his office door.

"No, I decided to stay a little longer" Maya answer as she slowly enters his office.

"Why'd you try so hard to talk down Chase?" Derek asks as he lifts his head up from the case file he was working on.

"I just understand him," Maya starts off before she takes a seat across from Derek. "I understand what it's like to have a really really bad father. I know that doesn't excuse his actions but... I just understand" Maya answers before rubbing the back of her neck nervously.

"Anyways," Maya trails off before she grabs one of the files from the large pile on Derek's desk. "Want some help?" Maya asks as she opens the file and begins looking over it.

"It's late. You can go home" Derek declares as he checks his watch. Maya shakes her head and leans back in the seat, "I don't have anyone to get home to. I think I can help" Maya says as she continues to look over the file while Derek continues to stare at her...

"Understanding is deeper than knowledge. There are people who know you, but very few understand you"
-Unknown-