"Some of us think holding on makes us strong; but sometimes it's letting go"
-Herman Hesse-

In the office, Garcia presents the case and reveals the team will be heading to New Mexico, where someone is snatching guys, cutting off their right legs, and then letting them go. One in a motel, the other, who died in the procedure, was 'let go' in a ditch across the border.

How did a guy smuggle a one-legged and sedated man into a hotel without being noticed?

Derek asks if this is drug related, what with it being in cartel country, but Garcia claims that both victims said they had no involvement.

"Tony Anders had I.V bruising and surgical sutures on his stump..." JJ trails off before Alex adds onto her statement and says that since both legs were severed and then professionally sutured, they must be looking for a doctor.

"That's a first" Maya states as she looks through the case file in front of her.

"Tony had hypodermic needle marks on his neck" Maya points out, "The unsub could have drugged him and brought him into the hospital for surgery" Derek states and Maya shakes her head, knowing it's not likely for the unsub to hide them in a hospital.

"Even the most experienced surgeons can't operate without being supervised" Maya declares and Derek begins to brainstorm more ideas while Reid points out that the surgeon didn't even do that good a job, and he's more accurately referred to as a butcher.

The team starts to gather on the plane and Maya grabs a cup of coffee before she takes a seat and starts looking through the brutal crime scene photos. Derek takes a seat next to Maya and Maya could practically feel his eyes on her, not that she cared.

"Staring is rude" Maya says as she looks over at Derek a smile slowly creeping up on his lips as he realizes Maya has caught him right in the act.

"Sorry, you just caught my eye" Derek says and Maya shook her head slowly as a smile grew on her face as well, "Don't make me regret last night" Maya says softly and Derek lifted his hands up in surrender, "Never".

LAST NIGHT

When he kissed her, Maya felt as if she was losing her mind. Maya, while still in the kiss, helped Derek remove his long sleeve shirt and quickly tossed it to the ground before his lips trails down her neck and her back slowly landed on the soft bed behind her. The slower the kiss, the faster her heartbeat. His hand ran up her bare leg and goosebumps ran up her leg with every touch he placed.

Maya scooted further onto the bed, bring Derek closer to her, never wanting the moment to stop. This was weird for Maya. Not the fact that she was in bed with Derek, the fact that she never wanted the moment to stop. The fact that she could see herself there all day and night. He looked at her the way she needed to be looked at. Like the whole world could crumble if he blinked for just a moment.

Every-time they laid their lips on one another, it was like they forgot to breathe because it didn't seem important at the time. Derek wrapped his arm around Maya's waist and turned around to where she was on top of him, looking down on him. Maya never wanted him to let go because his arms felt like a home, she'd always be welcome to...

PRESENT

Rossi points out that there has to be a pretty severe compulsion if the guy's chopping off two legs in a week. The team then discusses whether this could be a profit-based crime, and Derek asks what a leg costs on the black market.

JJ doesn't answer but points out that in 2002 a whole shipment of tendons was sent from South Africa to America for sale to private medical concerns. Which is a great piece of trivia, but without a per-unit valuation, it's impossible to tell whether stealing one leg could possibly be a profitable endeavor.

They decide to check every possible point of connection. The fact that the two were both organ donors, the black-market possibility-everything.

_____

When they land in Mexico, Rossi, Maya and Derek interview the first victim who was at the hospital. The victim doesn't remember how he was abducted so Rossi tries simple hypnotism, looking for memories of sights or smells he might have noticed while he was supposed to be under. He then remembers a garage door and states someone has turned a garage into an operating room.

"Based on the way this unsub treats his victims. We need to look at this case a different way" Reid declares as the team is now at the station and gathered around, looking to the board that was now set up for the case. "We know it's not for profit and we know he's not a killer" JJ states and Maya sits up in her seat as she looks to JJ and Reid who led the discussion, "Then what is he?".

"A scientist, or at least he sees himself that way" Reid corrects. "So, his victims are like test objects to him" Maya adds, "And if we're right, we're not going to see the usual signature or consistent victimology because there's no compulsion, sexual or otherwise" Reid informs.

"So, there won't be a trigger or a stressor either" Derek realizes and Maya scoffs annoyingly because that doesn't leave a lot for the team to give an accurate profile or even give one at all.

"We do have the unsubs medical technique. And based on the remnants of Hubbell's surgery, I think the unsubs experimenting" Reid declares, only confusing the team more and more but think, perhaps, the killer is trying to see if he can transplant entire legs.

This sick unsub wants to see if he can put a foreign leg on someone else's body.

______

The team doesn't have a solid basis for this guess, but it turns out to be right, as a new victim hobbles his way into an emergency room, with the last victim's leg crudely attached to his own right stump.

Maya, Reid and Derek get the call and head to the morgue. That's right, he's in the morgue. Even though his leg had only been cut off a short time ago, and the new one freshly attached, he has already succumbed to gangrene and sepsis. As Reid explains what happened, Maya and Derek notice him aggressively touching his head.

"Reid, are you getting a migraine?" Derek asks and Reid sighs, rubbing his eyes slightly.

"No. No, I haven't had one of those for months, ever since, um..." Reid trails off and bends down to look at the victims wound while Maya knits her eyebrows in confusion and carefully watches Reid who thinks the whole situation doesn't make sense.

"This unsub is supposed to have a background in science, right?" Reid asks and Maya nods, "I mean, that's what you said" Maya states, shrugging her shoulders.

"Then why is his science so bad? He amputated Carl's leg, sewed it up, and then reopened the sutures for transplant?" Reid states, questioning this scientist technique. "What's that?" Maya asks, seeing a small bag next to the body. "Oh, this is what the unsub must've left" Reid states, handing Maya the bag, which she grabs and looks at it with Derek.

"It's a surgical transplant" Derek realizes, "Maybe that's what he was trying to perfect, transplanting the leg into an amputee" Derek states and Maya scoffs as she hands the bag back to Reid, "But that's like medically impossible. You can't attach someone else's leg onto someone's stump" Maya states, knowing everyone knows that, even the unsub who just won't stop until he succeeds.

He's a doctor that can't admit he's wrong...

_____

Profile time. It's a doctor with a severe god complex and his narcissism makes him that he can defy human biology and anatomy. He's also probably a doctor who lost his license due to his very noticeable narcissistic behavior but not enough to be a psychopath.

In the bustling local PD's office, the team huddled together, awaiting Garcia's crucial call. Maya, Derek, and JJ sat in a corner, trying to maintain their focus amidst the chatter and anticipation. Maya delved into the case files, scanning through the details meticulously, only to be interrupted by Derek's gaze once again.

"You've got that 'I'm staring at you' look again," Maya quipped, playfully shutting the case file and meeting Derek's concerned eyes. "Is something bothering you?" she inquired in a hushed tone, mindful of JJ's presence nearby.

Derek hesitated for a moment, then confessed, "It's just... you act like nothing happened."

Maya's expression shifted, a mix of amusement and seriousness. "I don't mix my very, very personal life with work for a reason," she explained, settling back in her seat but keeping her gaze locked with Derek's.

"So, you're saying you didn't feel anything last night?" Derek pressed, his tone shifting slightly.

Maya raised an eyebrow, her suspicion evident. "I felt a lot of things last night," she retorted with a hint of humor, earning a chuckle from Derek before he returned to his more serious demeanor.

"I'm being serious," Derek insisted, prompting Maya to let out a sigh and lean back.

"And I am too. We had fun. Can't we just have fun without it needing to mean something more?" Maya countered, closing her eyes briefly until Derek's urgent call of "JJ" snapped her back to attention.

JJ leaned in, her curiosity piqued as she observed the dynamics between Maya and Derek. "Fun as in...?" she started, only to be cut off by Derek's direct confirmation, leaving JJ to analyze Maya's subtle nervousness.

"Are we talking about you two?" JJ ventured, sensing the tension in the air as Derek and Maya exchanged a quick glance and simultaneously dismissed the topic with a synchronized "Never mind."

Their momentary distraction was interrupted by Hotch's entrance, signaling Garcia's call and shifting their focus back to the pressing case at hand. The tension between Maya and Derek lingered, adding a layer of unspoken drama amidst the comedic interlude.

Garcia lets them know that there are plenty of wash-out doctors who 'fit the profile'. Reid was then able to perform a breakthrough when he recognizes the bit of plastic that was used to connect the two leg-parts as the kind of thing employed to reassemble dismembered corpses. Like at a funeral home.

So, JJ and Alex go to the funeral home to interview anyone who works there while Maya, Rossi and Derek go back to the hospital to interview the survivor they interviewed earlier.

They talk to the survivor about any place he might have come in contact with any medical personnel-how could he have been targeted? He recently gave blood at a mobile ambulance/blood donation van.

"That's how he found you" Derek concludes.

And at that very moment, two women are being abducted by a man from a parking lot in that very same van...

_____

That night, one of the two women is found dead in an alley. Her name is Maria Rodriguez. Apparently, she died from blood loss, which is peculiar, since the killer has managed to prevent that 66 percent of the time up until now. Maya and Derek also raise the possibility that the next victim might still be alive, seeing as only one body was dumped. Reid then calls Garcia, walking away from both Derek and Maya.

"What's going on with him today?" Maya asks and Derek sighs as he shakes his head, "No idea" Derek declares before he and Maya turn back to the dead body on the ground.

That same night, the whole team goes over the case- most of them together, Reid somewhere else. They decide that the only reason he could be going to these lengths is if he has a personal cause- if he needed a new leg, or someone close to him did. Now it's time for computers to save the day.

Garcia narrows down the list of morticians by who's married to a woman with a limb deformity caused by chicken pox. She then finds a married couple Linda Nelson who's married to John Nelson.

______

The tension in the air was palpable as the team rushed into John's home, their tactical training kicking into high gear as they aimed to rescue the latest victim. Maya's heart raced as she took in the scene before her-a terrified woman held hostage, her eyes wide with fear, while John hovered over her with a needle in hand.

"Drop the needle, John!" Hotch's voice boomed, commanding authority as he led the team into action. Maya's grip tightened around her gun; her eyes locked on John's every move.

John's eyes darted between the approaching agents and his captive, his expression a mixture of desperation and defiance. "You can't stop me! I need to save my wife!" he spat out; his voice tinged with madness.

Maya exchanged a glance with Derek, their silent communication speaking volumes about the gravity of the situation. They needed to act fast, before John could harm his victim any further.

"John, listen to me," Hotch's voice cut through the tension, his tone calm yet firm. "You don't have to do this. Let her go, and we can work this out."

The wife, who had been cowering in the corner, now stepped forward, her eyes pleading with John. "Please, John, don't do this. Think about what you're doing," she implored, her voice trembling with emotion.

Maya observed the exchange, her senses heightened as she kept her gun trained on John, ready to intervene at a moment's notice. She could see the conflict in John's eyes, the struggle between his rage and the faint flicker of reason.

"Just let her go, John," Maya added her voice to the plea, her words carrying a sense of urgency. "You don't want to do something you'll regret for the rest of your life."

John hesitated, his grip on the needle faltering slightly. Maya held her breath, her muscles tensed, ready to react. The wife continued to speak, her words a lifeline of hope amidst the chaos.

Finally, with a shaky exhale, John lowered the needle, his shoulders slumping in defeat. "I... I didn't mean to..." he muttered, his voice trailing off.

The team quickly moved in, securing John and administering first aid to the victim. Maya's heart ached as she looked at the injured woman, her resilience shining through despite the trauma she had endured. They managed to stabilize her, even though she had lost a leg in the ordeal.

As the chaos settled and the victim was taken to safety, Maya couldn't help but feel a mix of relief and sorrow. Another life saved, but at what cost? The aftermath of such cases always weighed heavily on her mind, a reminder of the harsh realities they faced in their line of work.

Case closed.

_____

"You don't have to take me home every night" Maya states as she enters her house, Derek walking in right after her. "You don't seem to have a problem with it" Derek jokes, shutting and locking the door behind him.

"Maybe because you give me something I like" Maya shrugs, tossing her duffel bag onto her couch and removing her leather jacket as well.

"Hm, yet, you act like you have nothing to do with me when we're out in public" Derek confesses and Maya groans in annoyance as she kicks her shoes off and pulls her hair out of a ponytail, "You're still on that?" Maya asks before she walks into her room and enters her bathroom, turning on her shower while she's in there.

"There's a thing called friends with benefits" Maya shouts from the bathroom. "Those never workout" Derek states before Maya walks back out to meet Derek who has in his hands resting in his pockets.

"It does when the other notices the hint" Maya states as she motions her head to the shower, only to have Derek knits his eyebrows in confusion.

"I'm telling you to take your clothes off and join me in the shower, gosh!" Maya groans as she rests her back on her doorframe to her bedroom. "I'm trying to confide in you" Derek says, walking over to Maya whilst removing his shirt.

"While taking off your shirt?" Maya asks as she backs away as Derek gets closer.

"Shut up" Derek states before he lifts Maya's body over his shoulder and leads her to the shower, using his foot to close the bathroom door.

"Friends with benefits. Better than words. More than a feelings. But still less than love"
-Unknown-