#Maze Valdez

[gryfflepuffinthetardis]

Zoe's Timeline (SPOILERS! DO NOT READ IF YOU WANT TO AVOID SPOILERS FOR MY VALENTÍA)

*I tried to keep certain things vague; Some years are different.*

*Some characters' birthdays are their actors' birthday just to establish it. A Tumblr post says that they mention Garcia was born in 1977 but in earlier seasons, she talks to Spencer in Tabula Rasa, saying "You're young. The eighties left a lot of people confused." She's referring to a gothy picture of high school Prentiss but that's not the point, the point is Garcia is implying to be a bit older than four years older than Spencer, and Morgan was born in 1974 which makes you think that she's around his age, so I just changed it to 1975 plus that's the same year that Adam Rodriguez was born.*

I am working my way back to the season twelve finale, I had finished only the first episode of the two parter but I went on vacation for my mom's birthday and when I tried to finish the second part, my car DVD player stopped working and I'm the sort of person who will avoid big change in TV shows, it took me a full year to even start the final season of Parks and Recreation and I don't want to see how Spencer changes so I procrastonate my procrastination (watching Criminal Minds instead of doing other things) Anyways, but I tried to keep major characters involved. You know Alex Blake, Kate Callahan, Stephen Walker, Tara Lewis and I know in season thirteen Matt Simmons joins the team. I'm hesitant to watch Evolution because Spencer's not in it but there's still hope he'll come back, though last year I did meet Matthew Gray Gubler in New York in that car he was driving with a giant green hand and we chased him down to a stop light and he gave me a free copy of his book that we later saw at the New York bookstore we always go to as being thirty bucks.*

Warning: Spoilers, Mention of a character being dishonorably discharged from Chemical Corps which implies darker things, Stillborn baby; Pregnant woman in distress; Woman dies while pregnant (baby survives though); Baby is diagnosed with heart defect; Four-year-old has heart difficulties after being abused; Child death; Teenager commits suicide; Twelve-year-old is kidnapped and attacked by a serial killer; Serial killer has fascination with twelve-year-old; Teenagers get kidnapped)

This may be under constant construction and dates may slip and slide. (There should be a larger time gap between Zoe's rescue in early 2005 and her hiring of the BAU but this was so time-consuming, and then I changed Zarah's name from Callie and I had already had it in my drafts, so I had to redo it, and there are things in here that I'm not all too confident about and I feel that the hinting at a big reveal is too on the nose and obvious.)

1940 — Max Ryan is born

1942 — Cain Noble is born

1945 — Alastriona Ophelia Kenzie is born in Scotland

June 1, 1955 — Jason Gideon is born

May 9, 1956 — David Stephen Rossi is born

August 19, 1962 — Zelena Valdez is born

1963 — Alastriona Kenzie comes to America, Virginia

Before September 29. 1964 — Alastronia Kenzie married Cain Noble and Cain Noble goes off to fight in the Vietnam War in the Chemical Corps soon to be dishonorably discharged for desertion.

Before September 29. 1964 — Cain Noble goes off to fight in the Vietnam War in the Chemical Corps soon to be dishonorably discharged for desertion.

September 29, 1964 — Alexander Noble is born to American Veteran Cain Noble and Scottish (technical immigrant) Alastriona Ophelia Noble

November 2, 1967 — Aaron "Hotch" Hotchner is born

1968 — Alex Blake is born.

June 10, 1968 — Alex Blake (formerly Miller) is born to Damon Miller and an unnamed mother

1968 — Cain Noble is dishonorably discharged for desertion.

Sometime 1970 — David Rossi illegally enlisted into the Vietnam War at age thirteen to fourteen. (Rossi doesn't really like to play by the rules, I guess? 🙄)

September 18, 1970 — Tara Elizabeth Lewis is born to Albert Lewis and her unnamed mother.

October 12, 1970 — Emily Prentiss is born to U.S. Ambassador, Elizabeth Katherine Prentiss and an unknown father

May 29, 1971 — Isobel Noble is born to American dishonorably discharged veteran Cain Noble and Scottish Alastriona Noble, younger sister to Alexander Noble

1972 — Gabriel Anthony Lewis is born to Albert Lewis and an unnamed mother, as the younger brother to Tara Lewis.

January 4, 1973 — Stephen Walker is born to unknown parents

January 25, 1973 — Mazikeen "Maze" Valdez is born

1974 — Rosalyn Jareau is born in East Allegheny, Pennsylvania to Sandy Jareau and an unnamed father

June 6, 1974 — Derek Morgan is born to Hank and Fran Morgan in Chicago

1975 — Penelope Garcia is born in San Francisco, California

April 2, 1975 — Luke Alvez is born in the Bronx borough of New York City, New York to unnamed parents

July 31, 1975 — Kalypso Valdez is born in Las Vegas, Nevada

June 24, 1977 — Elle Greenaway is born in Manhattan, New York to presumably American Robert Greenaway and an unnamed mother of Cuban descent

Sometime prior to 1978/1979 — Alastriona Noble (Alexander and Isobel's mother) dies

1978/1979 — Alexander Noble is forcably escorted to Somerville Military Academy due to his "fits" (Manic-Depression/Bipolar episodes)

1979 — Alexander Noble escapes from Somerville Military Academy and shortly after he and Isobel run away from Cain Noble.

February 21, 1979 — Kate Callahan is born to unknown parents with a presumably older sister named Liz

November 28, 1979 — Matthew "Matt" Simmons is born in Carson City, Michigan to an unnamed Caucasian father and a Korean mother named Mi Young Simmons; however, due to his mixed ethnicity he was ostracized by his grandparents on his father's side.

1979 — Ciara Valdez is born to Elena Valdez and an unnamed man.

September 17, 1980 — William LaMontagne Junior is born to William LaMontagne Senior and an unnamed mother in New Orleans, Louisianna

November 22, 1980 — Jennifer “JJ” Jareau is born in East Allegheny, Pennsylvania to Sandy Jareau and an unnamed father as the younger sister to Rosalyn Jareau.

September 21, 1981 — Maeve Donovan is born to Mary and Joe Donovan

October 12, 1981 — Spencer Reid is born to Diana and William Reid in Vegas, Nevada

1983 — BAU is founded by David Rossi, Jason Gideon, Zelena Valdez, and Alexander Noble

1984 — Stephen Gideon is born to Jason Gideon named after Rossi's middle name; Carolyn and David Rossi’s son, James David Rossi dies during childbirth

Unspecified Date, 1985 — Robert Greenaway has a fight with his eight-year-old daughter, Elle Greenaway which ends with her telling him she hates him before he is called away and is killed in the line of duty.

Early 1985 — Some point in January, February, or March, Zelena Valdez realizes she’s pregnant and is required to go off her sleep apnea and PTSD medication to avoid any more risks of her babies being born with birth defects. Some point later, she started using a sleep apnea machine.

Around September and/or October — Zelena Valdez is ordered to stay at the BAU headquarters due to being so far into her pregnancy and she gets the case about a man killing pregnant women and their unborn babies in Virginia.

October 28, 1985 — Zarah Carina Noble-Valdez is born in Quantico, Virgina; Zelena, still in labor and the unborn Zoe are kidnapped by the same psychotic axe murderer Zelena had been chasing.

October 31, 1985 — Alexander finds Zelena and Zoe; Zelena dies from multiple axe wounds to the chest while the UnSub gets away; Xiomara "Zoe" Noble-Valdez is born due to a post-mortem C-section in Quantico, Virginia, initially as a stillborn due to the conditions but is successfully resuscitated but quickly diagnosed with a heart defect.

November 1, 1985 — Zoe is diagnosed with having transportation of the great arteries (TGA) A serious, rare heart problem in which the two main arteries carrying blood out of the heart are reversed, at most giving her a year to live without correction surgery.

November 7, 1985 — In Quantico, Virginia, At one week old, Zoe receives open-heart surgery for transposition of the great arteries (TGA) and survives to live a relatively “normal” life, although with possible heart failure problems later in life

November 7, 1985 — In Chicago, Derek Morgan's father, Hank Morgan is killed by a would-be robber in front of eleven-year-old Derek Morgan

1986 — David Rossi meets diplomat, Hayden Montgomery and after six months they get married.

1987 — Around late February to early-to-mid March of 1987. David Rossi and Hayden Montgomery get divorced, shortly after Hayden finds out she's pregnant with David Rossi's second child (see the year 1984 for first child). Hayden only relays this information to Alexander Noble which is overheard and understood by his one-year-old daughter Zoe Noble-Valdez who had by now developed the cognitive understanding of an eight-year-old with her high IQ and exceptional memory.

December 12, 1987 — Joy Montgomery is born and only Zoe and Alexander remain aware of her true father’s identity.

October 13, 1988 — Riley Jenkins is found dead in Las Vegas; Zoe and Zarah go to spend some time with Kalypso Valdez (who suffers from Schyzotypal Personality Disorder) and her family in Las Vegas; Two-year-old Zoe goes missing in park, presumably kidnapped, causing seven-year-old Kalypso to have a Schyzotypal psychotic break due to the immediate stress and fear during this traumatic experience; late that Zoe is found by Las Vegas local.

1989 — Alexander has no choice but to leave Zoe with his father for a month while Zarah gets treatments from the hospital; he returns to find his four-year-old daughter severely injured with her ribs broken and not breathing due to a heart failure and Cain is forbidden from ever being near her again.

1990 — Zoe and Zarah Noble-Valdez take the ACTs due to their high intelligence, Zoe additionally takes the CLT.

1991 — William Reid leaves Diana and Spencer Reid; Zoe meets Emily Prentiss through Maze Valdez and Alexander Noble; Zoe and Zarah start advanced dual college classes along with elementary.

1992 — Zoe and Zarah receive Criminology degrees at age seven

1992 — Seventeen-year-old Rosalyn Jareau gives eleven-year-old JJ her necklace; Eleven-year-old JJ finds seventeen-year-old Rosalyn Jareau in the bathtub, having committed suicide with her father’s razors, JJ freezes up for about ten minutes, unable or unwilling to comprehend what she’s seeing.

1992 — Alex Blake joins the FBI

1993 — Spencer Reid graduates from high school at age twelve

1993 — Zoe and Zarah receive Psychology degrees at age eight

1993 — Penelope Garcia sneaks out and her parents go out looking for her and they are hit and killed by a drunk driver.

1994 — Ethan Blake is born to Alex and James Blake

1995 — Aaron "Hotch" Hotchner joins the BAU; Hotch meets ten-year-old Zoe and Zarah

1995 — Zoe and Zarah receive Criminal Justice degrees at age ten

1996 — Zoe and Zarah receive forensic science and psychology science degrees at age eleven.

1997 — David Rossi retires; Zoe and Zarah receive abnormal psychology and sociology degrees at age twelve.

Late January to Early February 1998 — Hotch’s first case as Senior Agent in Boston

February 13, 1998 — Hotch’s serial killer intends for twelve-year-old Zoe to be his twenty-first kill but finds that she has no fear in her eyes which (disgustingly) fascinates and intrigues him. (Yeah, I know, gross, but if you know who I’m talking about he’s a sick guy, basically it's an even creepier meeting of Crazy Jane and Frank, only illegal, disgusting, and one-sided; Also I think he only killed twenty before making the deal.)

February 13-18, 1998 — Twelve-year-old Zoe is held captive by the serial killer, her five-day absense is relatively unnoticed by the BAU on account of Alexander lying for the safety of his daughter’s return. Zoe is found outside of a Boston hospital with deep knife wounds (not stab wounds), bruises, broken bones, and drugs in her system. Alexander somehow manages to keep her injuries secret from the BAU.

March 1998 (Six weeks after the “deal with the devil” was made) — Zoe Noble-Valdez has weekly therapy sessions with Karl Arnold who she sasses and profiles constantly before deciding she doesn’t like the vibe she gets off of Karl Arnold.

1998 — Zoe and Zarah receive physical science and counseling degrees at age thirteen; Zoe also receives a nursing degree, intending to be the medical doctor on the team.

November 1998 — Zoe Noble-Valdez makes her first kill in self-defense for her sister.

December 15, 1998 — Tracy Belle is born in Texas

1999 — Zoe receives computer science and physics degrees at age fourteen. Zarah receives human services and arts and humanities degrees at age fourteen.

2000 — Zoe receives toxicology, pharmacology, and chemistry degree.  Zarah receives an anthropology degree at age fifteen.

Sometime after October 12, 2000 — Now eighteen and eligible to pursue his career in the FBI, Spencer Reid, knowing that without him his mother, Diana Reid wouldn't be able to take care of herself, admits her to a mental institution, Bennington Sanitarium.

October 28, 2000 — Zarah Noble-Valdez has her Quinceañera (Fifteenth Birthday)

October 31, 2000 — Zoe Noble-Valdez has her Quinceañera (Fifteenth Birthday)

Autumn, 2000 — Zoe starts Harvard Medical School and meets fellow schoolmate, Maeve Donovan, working to get her PhD in genetics.

February 13, 2001 — Zoe and Zarah Noble-Valdez are kidnapped.

February 14, 2001 — Zoe and Zarah Noble-Valdez are separated.

October 15, 2001 — Zoe Noble-Valdez manages to escape with no memory of how. Zoe is reunited with Alexander Noble but refuses to go to the BAU .

Late 2001/Early 2002 — Derek Morgan is recruited by the BAU (Doesn't meet Zoe due to her being busy getting her degrees, finishing school, and medical school and by request is not named to avoid later accusations of nepotism)

March, 2002 — Zoe gets a biology, biochemistry, chemistry, and neurobiology degrees.

June 3, 2002 — Zoe finishes high school, has a psychotic break due to grief, guilt, and  seven months of rumors about what happened to Zarah and bullying; Zoe gets degrees in computer science, behavioral science, philosophy, and pharmacology degrees, starting to over-over achieve to distract herself, all at age sixteen

September 1, 2002 — Zoe starts medical school

Before September 11, 2001 — Meg Callahan is born to Kate Callahan’s sister, Liz and her brother-in-law.

September 11, 2001 — Kate Callahan's sister and brother-in-law, Liz and Joe tragically die among hundreds of others during 9/11

2002 — Spencer Reid joins the FBI at age twenty (three years before the normal age qualification)

2003 — Ethan Blake is diagnosed with an unknown illness and tragically dies

April, 2003 — Zoe gets toxicology, neuroscience, engineering, and neurology degrees

June 5, 2003 — Zoe finishes medical school

August 5, 2003 — Zoe starts FBI training

September 16, 2003 — Zoe completes FBI training fourteen weeks early.

October 1, 2003 — Zoe starts working with various mentors (before finally landing a year and a half mentorship with her own cousin, Makenzie "Maze" Valdez, mostly in Europe and the  U.K.; occasionally in Italy where Zoe is reunited with Emily Prentiss under the alias of Lauren Reynolds.

2004 — Penelope Garcia is recruited by the BAU for her coding skills as an alternative to jail time for hacking; Spencer Reid is recruited to the BAU at the age of twenty-two/twenty-three.

2004 — The Blue Ridge Killer plummets off a roof and hits his head, somehow surviving but in a coma. (Also, you’d think Gideon would be there or they could’ve placed it during Gideon’s six month medical leave)

August 14, 2004 — Zoe is kidnapped by terrorists and tortured by a prison front for terrorists.

2004-2005 — JJ is recruited as the media liaison for the BAU

February 13, 2005 — Zoe is rescued from corrupt prison by Maze resulting in most of the corrupt guards/terrorists being brutally murdered

April 3, 2005 — Jason Gideon goes on medical leave; Hotch is promoted to unit chief

April 13, 2005 — Zoe interviews for the BAU by Aaron "Hotch" Hotchner, newly promoted to Unit Chief after Gideon's medical leave of absence; Zoe meets Spencer Reid and impresses him with her intellect

April 3, 2005 — Jason Gideon goes on medical leave for six months; Hotch is promoted to unit chief.

April 13, 2005 — Zoe Noble-Valdez interviews for the BAU with Aaron "Hotch" Hotchner.

May 1, 2005 — Zoe's first day at the BAU; Zoe meets Spencer Reid for the first time a second time.

September 2005 — Jason Gideon returns from medical leave, now as Senior Supervisory Special Agent

—————————————————————————

Edited October 7, 2024

Notes (Colored merely to show they're different notes from the ones before): Alexander Noble’s birthday — September 29 — It's been a while since I wrote this down so I googled David Tennant september 29 and what came up was that the first episode of Season two of the revival of Doctor Who, called "New Earth" aired which was the first episdoe where David Tennant could really be the Doctor for the full episode as he was in a coma for most of "Christmas Invasion". Isobel Noble's birthday — May 29 — The day Karen Gillan was announced by portray Amelia “Amy” Pond in Doctor Who Mazikeen “Maze” Valdez's birthday — January 25 — In the season three episode of Lucifer, The City of Angels? It takes place on January 25, 2011 and it’s about Lucifer’s first days on Earth of his “vacation” of eternity of ruling Hell (or at least according to the Lucifer Timeline page on Lucifer Wikia (too lazy to watch the full episode and keep an eye out to see if the date is mentioned and I multitask too much to) For Will LaMontagne's birthday, I wanted to be a bit more original than just using the actor, Josh Stewart's birthday, plus he was born in 1977 which would make him several years older than JJ, I wanted their ages to be more similar but, since Will was introduced in "Jones" with an Unsub copying Jack the Ripper, I used the alleged date that sources claim a letter first used the term "Jack the Ripper" I feel like it's worse that Emily and Spencer have the same birthday—October twelfth—yet they still forget his thirtieth birthday and it's not like they had never celebrated it before. They celebrated it in the fourth episode of the whole series! If I were them, I would just feel like the worst friends because presumably Spencer's mother who often didn't know what day of the week it was, dismissed her doctor's suggestions (because "he's a Neanderthal"), and once had a schizophrenic episode so bad she didn't notice her son had been missing for a whole night when he was tied to the school field due to some horrible bullies, you can assume he didn't get to celebrate his birthday too much after his dad left when he was ten. I would just fee like the worst friend ever.

Maeve Donovan's birthday — September 21 — Maeve's birthday is the date that psychologist and behavior geneticist, Kathryn Paige Harden's book, The Genetic Lottery: Why DNA Matters For Social Equality was published, plus September was the month that "The Narrative of John Smith" was published. (I was going to use July 19 after the birthdate of Nancy Wexler who learned a Ph.D. in Psychology but chose to instead work in the field of genetics. I don't really know who either of these women are though, I don't really understand genetics like I do psychology—Ironic since just last semester I took a class called "Developmental psychology" or not ironic at all (Developmental psychology is pretty much about psychology as we grow and the psychological concepts that we go through and the bonds we form) but I tried to find a woman who had work in both fields of genetics and psychology. I did find a geneticist and psychologist named Robert Joseph Plomin and Gregor Mendel who I KNOW was in my developmental psychology class, despite him seeming to be firmly in the world of genetics with some overlap in psychology but I don't want to sign into my school account, it's whole ordeal and they make it so overly complicated (for privacy reasons but still, it's annoying. I can appreciate something and still find it annoying) but I wanted a female geneticist and I wanted some more options than just Nancy Wexler, I find birthdays that are like after August easier to keep track of, maybe because my birthday is in October which is in that range and I have a math learning disorder and I overthink things because I am terrified of accidentally offending someone. But I chose the publication date because I couldn’t find Kathyrn Paige Haden’s birthday

[annabethchase06]

Jason Grace was needed by the fandom because among all the troublemakers, sarcastic frats, dyslexic students and hyperactive kids who related with Percy, Leo and other demigods, there were some of us who loved discipline, studying and who constantly worked under the growing weight of people's expectations just because they were good at something.

There were some of us who excelled at academics, some who liked being organized instead of messy, and some who liked discipline over casual behaviour. And just when we thought that maybe we couldn't relate to any demigod – Jason emerged as our ray of sunshine.

Jason taught us it's as okay and cool to be disciplined and perfect as it is to be messy and lacky. Let's give our boy all the love he deserves because he made a huge difference in so many people's lives.

JASON GRACE YOU'RE LOVED

[starlightshadowsworld]

Something something Leo returning to camp, excited to see everyone.

Looking around with a smile. "Wheres Jason?"

Percy feeling this cold sense of dread.

And not knowing why.

Leo asking where Jason is and Percy not seeing Leo.

But 10 year old Nico di Angelo.

Asking where his sister is.

[lavenderfairiez]

I just finished ToA last night and here are some things I don't see nearly enough people talking about, specifically about the end of ToA so if you haven't read it this is your spoiler warning!!!

• Apollo not feeling right in his godly form and uncomfortable around the other olympians (not including Artemis)

• LEO CALLING JO "MOM" 🥺 (and Emmie and Jo in general) BUT HE HAS TWO MOMS NOW I LITERALLY STARTED CRYING ABOUT THIS LAST NIGHT

• Apollo visiting Percy and Annabeth in New Rome!!!

• AND they talk about Jason!!!!!! Annabeth cried herself to sleep

• honestly Apollo's whole battle with Python that shit was so cool

• obligatory fuck Calypso

• REYNA CALLING LEO "HERMANO" 🥹

• Meg standing up to Nero in his throne room!!! I LOVE HER SO MUCH

• Rick's infallible ability to put EVERY. SINGLE. FUCKING. CHARACTER. in a relationship 💀 PEACHES HAS A LOVE INTEREST NOW???????? LET CHARACTERS BE SINGLEEEEE

• HAZEL'S CURSE IS GONE AND SHE CAN JUST LIKE USE HER JEWELS NOW!!! and Frank wants an engraved diamond necklace that says "H+F Forever" I love him so much...

• while we're on the topic of Frank!! WHY DOES NO ONE EVER TALK ABOUT HIS SACRIFICE AT THE END OF THE TYRANTS TOMB??? Like I knew that he would be fine but I still started like tearing up

• THE ARROW OF DODONA!!!

• how completely unaffected Zeus is by Jason's death??? Fuck you Zeus.

• Apollo's new kids at camp!!!

[poppitron360]

Anyone else notice a trend of Book 3 in every Riordanverse series always being a big tragedy? Case in point-

The Titans Curse- “You promised you’d protect her! You promised! You lied to me!”

Mark of Athena- “We’re staying together. You’re not getting away from me. Never again.”

The Burning Maze- “Where’s Jason?”

Am I wrong?

[1800-lemon-boy]

Friendly reminder that Jason never got to punch Leo for dying.

<33

[the-goddess-of-gays]

rip jason grace you would've loved leo valdez

[darkwitchingflower]

OK I've just finished the burning maze and Rick I wanna ask

Who gave you the right to get Leo to ask "Where's Jason?" Like Nico asked "Where's Bianca?" Like no that's just plain cruel I was sobbing

[couldnt-think-of-a-funny-name]

jason spending months thinking leo was dead and then dying days after finding out he's alive and leo spending months trying to get home only to arrive just as they're loading jason's casket into a plane was. genuinely one of the most fucked things I've ever read.

[demigod-shenanigans]

Underrated Valgrace moment: after the big battle with the Giants in Blood of Olympus, Jason looks first at the Argo II (the last place that he saw Leo) and then his eyes find Leo in his crowd of friends. Leo is mentioned by name and described. No one else is. Not even Piper.

Jason’s priorities are literally “Leo is fine!!! And everyone else is also here I guess” LMAO

On a significantly less funny note: something about the way Jason and Leo instinctively look for each other in a crowd because their first priority in any given situation is that the other one is okay. Something about how Jason looks for Leo here and finds him. Something about Leo’s eyes instinctively searching for Jason in ToA and not finding him.

[gryfflepuffinthetardis]

Machismo

Season One Masterlist

L.D.S.K.

The Fox

Warning: References past rapes; Murders; the Valdezes; Dialogues of Spanish (will be translated at the end of post via Google Translate so possibly incorrectly); Maze Valdez (She is a true warning in of itself but mild in here); References to six months of torture; Zoe is alienated, isolated, and straight-up ignored by the citizens of Oaxaca; Zoe is implied to be alienated by her family; Zoe being colder than usual; Oaxaca is probably not accurate; Hints of rape of main character; Hints/References to homophobia; "Housemates" is used to refer to a relationship between two lesbians but this is only what they claim to the public

Note:  It's implied that this episode takes place during Dias De Los Muertos/Day of the Dead which take place on November first and November second, therefore that's when Hotch's birthday is and it just seems out of place in the canon order so I moved it, but also the dates used on the criminalminds.fandom.com (under the UnSubs' (known victims") are still off; City change to Oaxaca (but the dialogue implies it's a part of it where it's like a small town and there are few non-Valdez police officers at the station); Character change—Navarro is now Ciara Valdez; Like in the show, we're pretending that maiden names is a thing in Mexico, which it is not.

Summary: The BAU is requested to assist on a case in Zoe's maternal family's hometown in Mexico, Oaxaca and the team meets some of her family members, Ciara Valdez, the human equivalent of being hugged by the cartoon smiling sunshine and Maze Valdez who makes Zoe seem well-mannered.

"There is nothing stronger than a woman who has rebuilt herself" — Hannah Gadsby

November 2, 2005

On his birthday, Hotch walked his crying baby son, Jack down the stairs, trying to soothe him.

"Hey, what's that about? What's that all about? It's okay. It's okay. I'm a little grumpy when I wake up sometimes, too."

In the living room waited Hotch's wife, Haley Hotchner and her sister, Jessica Brookes, they pointed to a sign put up that said: Happy birthday, daddy, as if Jack had done it.

And they laughed.

"That's great, you guys." He looked down at his fussy son, "See what you did?" But he kept crying.

"Here." Hayley held out her hands

"I got him. Yeah, it's okay." Hotch said, bouncing a still fussy Jack. The phone in the kitchen started to ring. "Can you grab that?" Hotch asked Hayley who went to do so. "Thanks."

Jessica had her arms crossed and she criticized Hotch, "You're holding him like a cantaloupe."

"What? You think you can do better?" Hotch scoffed and Jessica held out her hands to take Jack. "Okay, smarty pants, knock yourself out." Hotch started to hand Jack to Jessica. "There we go. It's okay. It's for the..." Jack immediately stopped crying. Hotch wasn't amused. He glared at his sister-in-law and said, "All right, let's see you profile a disorganized psychopath."

"It's your life." Hayley said, handing the phone to Hotch.

Hotch brought the phone to his ear, "Yeah?"

"Hey, I know you're taking the weekend, but I wanted to let you know we got a call..."

When Hotch got off the phone, he went back to his family, Hayley sighed and said, "Go."

"It's just a briefing." He reassured her. "A couple of hours and I'll be back, okay?"

"It's okay. Go. They need you. It's all right. I'm not mad." Hayley told him, clearly disappointed as she cleared up the table and kissed his cheek. "Go."

Baby Jack fussed some more as Jessica looked at him with disapproval

"You heard her. She said it was all right." Hotch said.

"You're one hell of a profiler." Jessica scoffed.

"Oaxaca, Mexico," JJ siad and Zoe looked up, that was primairly the city where her maternal family was, that was where she and Zarah were kidnapped. "The victim is Lupe Trejo, sixty-two. She was found in her home stabbed in the face, chest and genitals. The papers down there connected her murder to eleven others in the past two years, all elderly women. They're saying it's the work of a serial killer."

"Mexican government disagrees." Gideon said.

"So if the government denies that this is a serial killer, why'd they call us?"

"And we were asked specifically." Alexander said, making a face.

"Why?" Zoe asked and looked up at her dad and then dropped her file on the table. "No. No. No. Don't make that face. That's your awkward interacting with family face. What are you doing?"

"It's affecting your mother's family's part of the city and they're insisting that it's the work of a serial killer."

"Dad!"

"It's your cousins."

"Which ones?"

"Eh, there's too many for me to name or count." 

Zoe didn't look amused.

"They have a suspect in custody, the victim's son. We're the serial killer experts, they want us to go down there and confirm that this was just a onetime killing. Put the serial killer angle to bed."

"Except the Valdezes say that's... some curse word in Spanish and that it is a serial killer." Alexander added. "And they're stuborn."

"So, we're going all the way down there just to prove they don't have a serial killer?" Morgan asked.

"Maybe. Or we're going down there to tell them if what I've read in the Mexican papers is true, they've got one of the worst serial killers the country's ever seen."

"Let's go." Alexander said and hurried out of the room.

"Dad!" Zoe shouted, speed-walking after him

——————————————————————————————————————

Anthony Brandt wrote, "Other things may change us, but we start and end with family."

Hotch was clearly upset about something but didn’t speak and they knew if they asked, he wouldn’t answer them, honestly.

“Hey. At least you get to spend your birthday weekend in Mexico.” JJ said.

“Yeah, what’s ‘dog house’ in Spanish?” Hotch scoffed, sarcastically.

“La ca-sa del pair-o.” Spencer mispronounced.

“La casita del perro.” Elle and Zoe corrected in unison.

“That’s what I said.” Spencer said.

“Face it, chico. You’re only a genius in English. So, I don’t know how much help you’ll be on his mission, insoportable sabelotodo.”

“Did you just call me an ‘insufferable know-it-all’ in Spanish?”

“Yeah, I’m fluent in many languages. I’ve been fluent in Spanish as long as I have in English. Half my family’s hispanic.”

“The one’s we’re going to meet?”

"Uh, yeah. My aunt Ciara is the lead detective on the case. She was mom's little sister." Zoe said, on her phone.

"All right, so why are there so few serial killers in Mexico?" JJ asked.

"They probably have as many as we do, but they document almost none of them." Hotch said.

"Why is that?" JJ asked.

"It's the Chikatilo Syndrome." Gideon said.

"The what?"

"Andrei Chikatilo, he was one of the most prolific serial killers of the twentieth century. By the time they found him, he'd killed more than fifty people." Spencer explained.

"He was no more experienced than any average serial killer, but lived in the Soviet Ukraine. Soviets were convinced serial killers, uniquely American phenomenon." Gideon said and then immitated a Russian accent, "Inevitable result of decadent capitalism.

"So what's the cultural bias in Mexico?" JJ asked.

"Many Mexicans believe that serial killers are the result of the breakdown of the family, which gives rise to the kind of alienated loner who becomes a serial killer." Hotch said and Zoe huffed.

"It's a fact there are twelve times as many broken families in the US than in México." Spencer said, pronucing Mexico with the accent.

"Yeah, spend five minutes in town and you'll see how much they belive it." Zoe muttered.

"All right, so is it possible there are fewer serial killers in Mexican culture?" JJ asked.

"It is possible, but in my experience, evil is not a cultural phenomenon, it's a human one."

"Fuck!" Zoe groaned.

"What?"

"Maze just arrived in Oaxaca."

"Your mentor?"

"Slash-psycho cousin."

"What's she like exactly?"

"Uh, you know how I'm violent and dangeorus?"

"You're aware of that?"

"She's worse. She's like a semi-high-funtctioning psychopath. She makes me look sane." She said.

——————————————————————————————————————

Maze made herself known at once at the airport by stepping inside. Not only was she one of the most beaitful women in the airport but she was dressed in rather low cut clothing and carrying an odd knife and then shouted at the top of her lungs: "WHICH OF YOU MIDLIFE CRISES IS JASON GIDEON!?"

"Maze!" Zoe shouted.

"Hey, Zoe!" Maze greeted, warmly, giving her younger cousin a side hug before looking at the rest of the team, skeptically like she was trying to decide who to cut down.

"Where's Ciara!?" Zoe asked, loudly.

"ZOZO!" A voice squealed before she was attacked with a hug with a very, very bubbly woman with her dark hair held in a ponytail, she was dressed she bought her entire wardrobe at Comic-Con.

Morgan looked at the others, "What the fuck?"

"Uh, Detective Valdez..."

"Oh, there are so many Valdezes here, you might as well call my by my first name, Cirara, nice to meet you." Ciara hugged JJ like they were old friends.

"She's a hugger." Zoe deadpanned.

"We noticed."

"Uh, Ciara, I'd like to get a handle on the type of press this has been getting and meet some of your local police here." JJ said.

"Of course, but I imagine you would all like to settle into your rooms and rest before we go?" Ciara suggested.

"Nope. We're ready.

——————————————————————————————————————

Zoe and Maze arrived on their motorcycles before the others.

"What's all this?" Morgan asked when he, Spencer, and an officer, Lieutenant Borquez got out of their car.

"Dia de los meurtos." Zoe said.

"Day of the Dead. Three-day Latin holiday where souls of dead relatives are said to return to earth to enjoy the pleasures that they once knew of." Spencer said.

"He sounds like he was reading that out of a book."  Borquez said.

"Trust me, he always sounds like that." Morgan said.

"Actually, I was reading. I picked this pamphlet up at the airport." Spencer said, holding said pamplet.

"You're a virgin, right?" Maze said, bluntly.

"Maze! You can't just ask my teammates that!" Zoe shouted.

"La Llorona!" A kid said loudly to his friends, pointing at Zoe and they ran off.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. Ignore them." Zoe said, truging on as a mother pulled her child away from Zoe as if she were a predator.

They joined the other group as they approached the crime scene, ""As profilers, I thought you'd want to see the crime scene first before meeting the suspects. Yes?"

"You read any Max Ryan or David Rossi's books?" Gideon asked.

"The men who helped raise my precious sobrina over there? Of course, but I actually got it from my older sister's binders of behavioral science." Ciara said. "The victim's name is Lupe Trejo, sixty-two. She was found in the bedroom by the daughter. No sign of forced entry."

"Are there always this many people around?" Hotch asked.

"No. Church just got out. They are walking home from the town square."

Some of the people were pointing at Zoe and Maze, some moving faster, trying not to look at them.

"What time was she killed?"

"I am guessing sometime during the evening mass. There wouldn't have been a lot of people around, otherwise he would have been seen." Ciara said.

"Unless he blended right in." Zoe suggested.

"There's the byproduct of my sister's brains!" Ciara cooed.

Zoe rolled her eyes. "Can we go now before a mob forms?" Zoe asked and then walked off. "Maze, come along!"

"So you're Zelena Valdez's sister? You seem a bit young." Morgan said.

"Zelena was my half-sister, we have different mothers, but I loved her even if she was a decade older than me." Ciara said, "And I love that girl in there. A lot of my family resent Zoe but she didn't ask for the mierda she's been given in life."

They entered the house, joining Zoe and Maze. "No forced entry means one of two things." Gideon said.

"A push-in. Holds a gun or a knife to her and forces his way inside." Morgan said.

"The murder weapon, the knife, was taken from the kitchen and placed at the scene." Ciara said.

"In that case, it's most likely that she let the killer in voluntarily. She looked through the peephole, saw someone she recognized. Someone who makes her feel safe." Hotch said.

"She lets him in and then what?" Gideon asked.

Spencer picked up a cup with a little brown liquid still left in it, "They have a drink?" He turned to Ciara, "Hey, have you run a DNA analysis on these?

"The closest thing we have to a crime scene unit is well, me and what I have is a older than Zoe." Ciara sighed.

"Find anything?" Spencer asked.

"The victim's prints were on one. The prints on the other were too smudged to make any match, but I don't think the killer drank this anyway." Ciara said.

"Why not?" Hotch asked.

Zoe brought the cup to her face and sniffed it. "Is this tamarind water?"

"Si."

"It's a common Mexican drink, comes from a plant. It's sweet and tart. You'll usually find women drinking this than men." Zoe said.

"I could see the victim offer this to a woman, but these are a time of festivities, and at night most men would have a shot of tequila, beer, maybe cigarettes." Ciara explained, "This looks like two women to me."

"And you don't think a woman could have done this?" Hotch asked.

"Do you?" Ciara asked.

"It's highly unlikely."

"Not impossible." Maze said and Zoe grabbed the knife she was spinning between her fingers.

"Give them to the FBI. At the very least it'll be able to tell us the gender of the drinkers." Alexander said.

"Where was she killed?" Gideon asked.

"This way." Ciara said and she walked to a bedroom with Gideon, Zoe, and Spencer.

It was an ordinary bedroom, indicated this woman was Christan based off the cross on the wall. Ordinary, except for the bedsheets soaked in blood.

Gideon looked through the drawers of the vanity.

"What are you looking for?" Ciara asked.

"Why? Why'd the UnSub choose this victim? Why did she feel safe enough to let the killer inside?" He found a picture of a man and showedd it  to Ciara, "This her son?"

"That's Miguel." Ciara confirmed.

There were pictures of the rest of the family out in the open. "I'd say Lupe had a problem with him. She has family photographs everywhere, but not Miguel. He's tucked away in her drawer."

As they left the crime scene, Gideon told Ciara, "You are almost certainly looking for a heterosexual male."

"Yes, and you know that because..." Despite her enthusiasm, Ciara trailed off.

"Well, the victim was found on the bed. Multiple stabs wounds to the face, chest, and genital area. All indicators of sexual homicide. In cases of sexual homicide, the attacker targets objects of his or her sexual attraction." Gideon explained.

"Heterosexual men attack women." Hotch said.

"So, homosexual men attack men?" Ciara gathered.

"Did the daughter have any ideas about who might've done this?" Hotch asked.

"She didn't have any ideas about anything. When she found out that her brother was a suspect, she wanted to talk to him alone. I refused because I didn't want them to get their stories straight. Then she stopped talking completely." Ciara explained.

"So, what's she protecting?"

"We're ready to talk to the suspect."  Hotch said.

"Of course, but first there's someone I would like you to meet." Ciara said.

Hotch and Gideon met the district attorney general while the rest of the team went to the police department.

"Nieta!" A voice called. A woman around her sixties came to Zoe, hugging her.

"Abuelita!" Zoe smiled, "Uh, team, this is my abuela, Elena Valdez."

"So, this is the team now. Your mother would be so proud of you."

"She'd be prouder if both her daughters were safe." Zoe said, cynically and walked off.

"Oh, Xiomara." Elena called after her granddaughter.

"Elena." Alexander greeted and hugged the mother of his deceased love.

"Oh, you get skinnier every day I see you."

——————————————————————————————————————

It turned out that Elena's... "housemate", Eva had been the one to bring this to the department's attention, the fact that it may be a serial killer. Eva was the same age but a bit feistier and spoke more Spanish than her.

Oddly enough, it seemed most of the officers were either family friends with the Valdezes or Valdezes themselves. Elena and Eva once worked there themselves.

Ciara returned with Hotch and Gideon and they got back to the case.

"Neighbors heard a loud fight the day of the murder between the victim, her son, daughter and brother-in-law."

"One big, happy family." Elle said, sarcastically.

"Well, the uncle had a solid alibi, but we could not find the son. Then we got a tip he had hired a coyote to take him over the border. We caught him before he crossed." Ciara said and she looked across the room to where a woman was being questioned by an officer. "That's Miguel's sister, Rosa. She's been here ever since she found out that her brother was arrested."

"Seems like she thinks he's innocent." Hotch said.

"The dutiful sister. This way." Ciara said.

She brought Hotch, Gideon, and Alexander to the prison cell with Miguel.

Zoe stared at the wall of pictures, it was of the deceased loved ones of the department. Since most of the department were Valdezes, it was mostly Valdezes on the wall. Arranged by the most recently deceased.

She stared at two pictures. One of her mother and the other of her sister. She slammed the picture of Zarah down.

"Are-are you okay?" Spencer's voice asked and she turned to see him looking at her.

"She's not dead." She said, sharply.

"Are you okay?" He asked again.

"No." She sighed. "I haven't been okay in a long, long time." She looked at him, "Percisely, seventeen miles from here, Zarah and I were kidnapped, four years ago and seconds before that happened... that was the last time I was ever remotely okay."

Then Zoe heard Ciara and Hotch yelling.

"You also knew that a gay man couldn't have committed this murder. That's why you asked us about the sexuality of the killer at the crime scene. You knew Miguel was innocent."

"You do not understand how things work here. If I had told the attorney general that this man is a homosexual and that is why he must be innocent, she would have laughed in my face.

"Why did you lie to us?"

"What the hell is going on here? Hotch, why are you yelling at my aunt?" Zoe demanded, coming in.

"I had to play along with the official line until I could trust that you would come to the same conclusion that I did." Ciara shouted at Hotch.

"So we're here to serve as pawns in your political game?" Hotch asked.

“There is a very bad man in my district, killing women, like my family, and I have known this for a very long time and so far no one will believe me or help me stop him. So, if I have to play politics to protect the women of the city then that is a very small price to pay, don't you agree?"

"Hotch, things are different here. Anyone who has a mental illness is thought of as loco. People suspected of not being heterosexual are shunned. I don't know if you've noticed but the locals don't like me. I'm not exactly mentally stable, I don't conform to their traditional gender norms or gender role of Marianismo, they gossip that I'm not strictly heterosexual because of that, and they blame me for killing my mom and my sister. Why do think this station is half Valdezes? That stuff doesn't matter where we're from but it's different here." Zoe shouted.

"Best way to bring the attorney general on board is by providing a complete profile." Gideon said, calmly.

"What do you need?" Ciara asked, fixing her hair.

"We'll need the files on all the murders."

"Of course, but I must warn you. These reports were taken by local police in the area who are not used to this type of killer. Most basic details are missing.

"Awesome." Zoe muttered and left.

——————————————————————————————————————

Later, they regrouped and Hotch announced, "We also need to get the whole story out of Miguel Trejo and right now he's not talking."

"But why does that matter?" Ciara asked. "Obviously, he's not a serial killer."

"Listen, obviously there's a great deal of anger in the family, and before we give a profile, we need to rule out the fact that this might be a crime of passion and not one of the serial killings." Hotch said.

"And why wouldn't Miguel talk if he's innocent?" Morgan asked.

"It must have something to do with the fact that he is a homosexual." Maze suggested.

"He'd rather be straight in jail than gay as a free man?" Morgan asked.

"What part things are different here, aren't you grasping?" Maze scoffed. She didn't like Morgan too much.

"Now I can see the resemblance." Morgan muttered.

"I can protect him in here, but if he's taken to a prison in Mexico City and the other inmates find out that he is gay, he will be killed." Ciara explained.

"So how do we get him to talk?" Spencer asked.

"Let me talk to the sister." Maze said.

"No!" Zoe and Ciara shouted.

——————————————————————————————————————

"Rosa, do you know the saying... El amor es ciego pero no las vecinas?" Ciara asked. Rosa shook her head. "We know there was a fight. We need to know what it was about."

"Rosa, we know about your brother." Zoe said, gently. "If you don't help us, he could go to prison and he could be killed there. You know this could be his last chance." Rosa was still heistant. "Look, I know you know who I am. Everyone does. But despite what everyone thinks, I would do anything to protect my sister, I didn't kill her and I tried my best to protect her. This is how you can protect Miguel by letting us do our best to prove that he's innocent."

"Miguel has a friend, Roberto. He was outside the house waiting for my brother, watching. He saw the fight with my mother." Rosa said.

"Did Miguel see him?"

"I don't think so."

"Why didn't you tell us about this before?" Elle asked.

"Because it would mean telling you that Miguel is..." She trailed off, "Like you said, if he goes to prison and they know this about him, they will kill him and I cannot risk that."

"But you're talking about the man who might have murdered your mother." Elle said.

"You do not understand how bad it is. You do not understand the shame."  Her voice broke and something shifted in Zoe's eyes, the intensity. "You do not understand what people will do to us. I just lost my mother. I cannot lose Miguel. La familia es toda."

"I understand, Rosa. I understand a whole of a hell lot better than you think." Zoe said, softly.

"Family is everything."

——————————————————————————————————————

"She may have come clean about that day, but I still think she's hiding something." Elle said.

"The way she went on about shame, almost like she was talking about herself." Zoe said, spinning her spinner ring with her thumb. Maze stared at her with for the first time all day, sympathy.

"This is interesting. Before Miguel met Roberto, Roberto had a wife." Ciara said, placing a paper down, making Gideon put on his glasses to read it.

"Well, if he was bisexual..." Elle said and Maze gave her a look.

"It makes him capable of sexual homicide of a woman." Gideon finished.

"And if he blamed Miguel's mother for denying their relationship, that would give him motive." Ciara added.

——————————————————————————————————————

Zoe told them that she wouldn't have much luck talking to locals so she stayed in the station where still the non-Valdezes would look at her when they thought she didn't notice.

"What—what's going on with Zoe?" Spencer asked Elena.

"Xiomara doesn't rub well with the locals around here. Never did. She challenged them, scared them when she thought they were being rude. They blame her for my daughter's death but it wasn't her fault. But it got really bad four years ago, when while on a visit, the twins went out and we realized they were missing the next day. Eight months later, Xiomara was found, having broken into a police station, half-awake but Zarah... they accused her of killing her sister, even some family members did. They say Zarah should've been the one to come back. She agrees. And especially what happened in Europe."

"What happened in Europe?"

"She hasn't told you?"

"She doesn't tell us anything. We just found out she was Noble-Valdez two weeks ago."

"She's had a hard life and she finds it hard to trust, despite her willingness to help even someone most would say don't deserve it. Last year, she was kidnapped and tortured for six months, she was rescused just a few months before she transferred to the BAU."

"What?" Spencer gasped.

"Hey, Spence. Try this." Zoe said, appering beside him with a cup of what seemed to be coffee. "We call this Café de Olla. It's... what? What's that puppy dog look for?"

"You were kidnapped and tortured last year?" Spencer asked.

Zoe gave her grandmother a look and Elena walked off, giving her granddaughter a smile.

"It's not a big deal."

"It sounds like a big deal. What happened?"

"When Maze was with the FBI, she worked for the FBI's Fugitive Task Force, that was what I was training with her for . She... also worked with interpol on some things and had connections with terrorists, and so we worked with the Joint Terrorism Task Force to locate them but they caught on and kidnapped me. They took me and my ex-boyfriend, J.D. to a... prison but it was corrupt, it was more of a front for terroists and I took the brunt of the torture from the terrorists and professional torturers rather than J.D."

"Why?"

Zoe did an airy laugh/scoff but there was no mirth, "Trust me, it was better that I took it than him. It took Maze six months to find us and when she did... she snapped. She killed a lot of people that day. I saw it. They were bad people, though... but Maze kicked out of the FBI for her actions, they were deemed self-defense but excessive and two months later, I interviewed with the BAU. It's not why I transfered. Not exactly. But the aftermath that experience had was."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, Spence, I've learned how to survive by now. Now, any other questions will cause me to walk the fuck out of this room. So, Café de Olla?"

Spencer looked at her for a few moments and nodded. "So, uh, what's in this?"

"Well, it can also be called Mexican spiced coffee, it's brewed in an earthen clay pot like this called an 'Olla'. It is made with Mexican ground coffee, cinnomon, and this raw dark sugar that resembles molasses in taste but no one's ever drowned in it, that we call 'pilocillo'. Sometimes there's more spices but not in this one. I wasn't sure if you'd like it. Café de Olla literally means 'coffee from a pot. My family has recipes that we teach the younger ones until they can make it from memory even if they don't drink coffee. You see unlike American coffee, the cinnomon and pilocillo isn't added after brewing but incorporated into the brewing technique. You can add more cinnomon, cloves, star anise, an orange peel, or whatever. It's very sweet and very black." Zoe explained as Zoe looked at her with just utter awe at what kind of person she was.

Morgan, Gideon, and Ciara came back soon after.

"I don't think he did it." Morgan told them, referring to Roberto, Miguel's boyfriend.

"Why not?" Spencer asked.

"The way he talked about Miguel. He didn't point the finger at his boyfriend and I think a guilty man would have." Morgan said.

"See if he has an alibi. Run his prints against any found at the scene. Right now though, I feel confident we can rule out a family fight as a motive for the murder." Gideon said.

"There's a call from the FBI." Borquez said and Zoe answered the call with a pencil.

"Yeah, Morgan."

"Como esta, my lovelies? Es bueno, no? Tripero, esta-la?" Garcia said in bad, broken Spanish.

Zoe face-palmed as Maze and Borquez didn't look amused.

"Easy there, Garcia. I think you just offended somebody’s mother." Morgan said.

"Shut up you. I took French. What can I say?"

"Penelope, your last name is Garcia."

"Yeah, I know. It’s my stepfather’s name. Do you want my genius or not?

"Yeah, but you said 'How are you, my lovelies? It's good, isn't it? Tripero, is she?'." Zoe said. "Tripero's not a word."

"Who's this bitch?" Maze asked, bluntly.

"Maze!" Zoe shouted, "This is Penelope Garcia. She's the technical analysist for the BAU."

"Isn't that the criminal?" Maze seemed offended on behalf of Zoe, not being the technical analyist.

"Maze!" Zoe shouted again. "Sorry, Garcia, ignore her. That's my crazy cousin, Maze."

"Okay." Garcia sounded a bit off now, "So, I rushed your cups full of mucus through all the regular channels at lightning speed and survey says one female drinker and one male."

"Thanks, doll." Morgan said and hung up before Maze could offend Garcia again.

"It's strange, on this occasion a man taking that drink." Ciara said.

"Unless the victim thought he was a woman." Spencer speculated. "The woman Roberto described, a social worker. That's a common ruse for old-lady killers. What if she is really a he in women's clothing? He comes to the door, knocks on it..."

"And the victim feels comfortable because she thinks it's a woman." Zoe finished.

"It would explain why no witnesses have come forward." Ciara said.

"No one expects the killer to be a woman." Maze said.

"Not in this country."

"Or ours." Zoe said.

"We need to tell the locals." Morgan said.

"And give them the rest of the profile." Gideon added.

——————————————————————————————————————

After they gave the profile, they were informed of another body and then Borquez and the other police officers had gotten frustrated and rounded a bunch of transvestites and then got scolded by Ciara and screamed at and threatened by Maze. And finally, the started to explain why they were looking for a rapist instead of a killer.

"Because we know this man commits sexual homicide, we can also assume that he was once a rapist."

"It's a lot easier to track a rapist than a killer because you have witnesses." Spencer said.

"Not here, most rapes here aren't even reported." Ciara said. Maze's eyes flittered to Zoe who showed no indictation that this had affected her.

"That's why we're doing a press confernece to inform these women that the man who raped them is now killing people to encourage to come forward." JJ said.

"But you also have the chance to discover something else—the reason he began killing." Elle said.

"Which is the stressor." Morgan added.

"As far as we can tell, the first killing was about one year ago." Elle said, pointing to the first murder victim: Elena Gutiérrez. "What happened to the suspect during that time?"

"A typical stressor—loss of a job, loss of love. He may have been released from prison." Morgan listed, "Whatever it was, it made him feel impotent. It made him feel frustrated and very angry."

"And that's when he started killing." Elle said.

"You should be talking to victims who reported rapes just before that first murder last year."

"Hopefully, the press conference will help bring some of these women forward, but we also need to head out and talk to some of these people directly." JJ said. "You should use all the female police you have. It will help put potential victims at ease."

——————————————————————————————————————

Elle and Borquez spoke to a woman named Milagros Villanueva who said she had nearly been raped by a man but she had fought back, scratching him and making him bleed and when she realized he had been wearing a dress, she had laughed at him and called him a pathetic woman and he had run away.

"She claimed it happened last year in August."

"The first murder happened in September." Spencer recalled.

"So she could have been the last one who was raped before whatever stressor made him kill.

"Or she could have been the stressor." Maze said, "never mess with a pissed off Latina."

"You say this woman laughed in his face, hit him, called him a woman. That could have been enough to make him impotent." Gideon suggested.

"He tries to rape again and all he can hear is this woman laughing." Hotch said.

"Maybe he thought he could rape older women. Thought they'd be easier. Wouldn't put up a fight, so he tries." Morgan said. Zoe noticed Borquez bringing in a lot of women.

"But he can't. He gets frustrated, he kills her," Elle said, "and then he finds the release that he was looking for."

"So he kills again."

"Uh, guys." Zoe spoke up, pointing behind them.

"The other victims are here."

"Send them in." Gideon said.

The woman who must be Milagros stepped up, "You wanted us to come forward? Here are six more women who were raped by this man. Now prove to us it will finally do some good."

"How did you find all these women, Milagros?" Borquez asked.

"We may not talk to the police, but we talk to each other." She said.

"Well, now you must tell us your stories. Every detail. Because the cycle does not end until this man is stopped."

——————————————————————————————————————

They all spoke to the women before they regroup to compare stories

"They all have the same story. He goes up to them in the street, puts a knife against their back, blindfolds them, and takes them out to the desert." Zoe said.

"He also kissed their neck while raping them." Spencer added.

"And then when he's finished he asks, 'How did I do?'" JJ said.

"Classic power-reassurance behavior." Gideon said.

"What does that mean?" Ciara asked.

"Power-reassurance rapists lack confidence. They can't develop normal relationships with women." Elle explained.

"Passive and non-athletic." Hotch said.

"He most likely fantasizes that the victims are his girlfriends and of the different types of rapists, he's the most likely to be dissuaded if the victim screams or struggles in any way."

"Is that it? All the characteristics of the power-assurance rapist?" Gideon asked.

"Uh, there's actually one more..."

"Excuse me." Borquez said, coming up to them, "I've been going over the forms filled out by the women. Four of them work in the same factory."

"He most likely lives or works near the victim." Spencer finished.

——————————————————————————————————————

Zoe had to stay behind given how she scared the locals but they called her with the name and address of Pabalo Vargas.

Zoe rode over on her motorcycle over and met them there. Zoe knocked on the door and spoke in Spanish, "¿Hola? ¿Alguien en casa?" No answer. So she knocked again, ""Hola?" She moved towards the window where she could hear chatter on a TV, so she spoke into the mic, "No body's answering but there's a TV on."

"Ready."

Zoe gave permission for the police to kick down the door and they entered. Zoe with her gun drawn, moved towards the sound of the TV and gently opened the door with her foot. She saw someone sitting in a chair, facing the TV.

"Hola?" No answer. "Hola? ¿Estás bien? ¿Puedes oírme?" She touched the chair and moved it around to reveal that the woman in the chair had been dead for a long time, she was completely a skeleton. Presumably Pablo's mother, the source of his rage. Zoe holstered her gun and called, "Hotch!"

Hotch entered the room, seeing what she was seeing,

"A little late." He remarked as Zoe got closer and examined the necklaces. "Souvenirs for his mother?"

"Isn't this Anna's necklace?" She asked.

"Zoe, look at this." Hotch said.

"No, I saw it. I don't need to see it again." Zoe sighed, shaking her head but determinedly not looking in that direction of the room. "Pictures of his rape victims."

——————————————————————————————————————

They sat back in the station, Zoe was writing on a chalkboard.

"We have a name, but how do you find him?" Ciara asked.

"We always ask, why this victim? Why the next victim? Serial killers plan their killings, and if we can figure out how he targets his victims we can get ahead of him."

Maze looked at Zoe, she recognized that glint in her eyes. "Zoe, what are you doing?"

Zoe turned the chalkboard around, "I put down all the names of the women who came in."

"That's what you call this chicken scratch?" Maze asked, sarcastically.

"Would you shut up and read? Does anyone else see what I see?" Zoe asked.

"That name, Torres. There was a murder victim with that name." Ciara recalled.

"Yeah." Zoe said.

"There are hundreds of Torreses in this town." Borquez said.

"Let me see the statements." Ciara said.

"What is it?" Morgan asked.

"It's maiden names." Maze realized.

"The murder victims and the rape victims." Hotch said as Ciara circled the maiden names of the rape victims. Torres. Gomez. Cortez. "The names are the same."Reyes.

"He's killing the mothers of the women he raped." Gideon said.

"He's doing it in the same order." Spencer noticed. "The daughters of the last two murder victims, Trejo and Santiago, never came forward. If we can assume they were raped, then according to the board the next rape victim in line was..."

"Milagros Villanueva." Zoe said. "His last."

"He's going to kill her mother." Morgan said.

——————————————————————————————————————

By the time, they got to Milagros' house, it was dark. They kicked in the door, some furniture was knocked over and there was blood, specifically in a trail, leading outside. She followed it and found a body on the ground. At first glance, they looked like a woman but that didn't explain one thing...

"I've got a body over here!" She shouted, calling all of them over to her, the body started to cough they were still alive. Zoe rolled them over and the wig fell off. It was Pablo, he was bleeding profusely from the mouth, gagging on his own blood. He had been beaten and stabbed... and castrated.

"Pueden salir, chicas. Come on out." She called without looking over and the leaves in the nearby trees became to rustle.

All the women he had raped and Milagros' mother, Nina came out, Milagros was holding a kitchen knife and one of them was holding a peice of wood, several others had other weapons that had used to beat and stab Pablo.

"He pretended to be a woman. Now he doesn't have to pretend." Milagros said.

Zoe looked down at Pablo, flashes of blood appeared behind her eyes and shook her head and looked up.

——————————————————————————————————————

The District Attorney General, María Sánchez was speaking to the women before coming back to them.

"Will they be charged?" Ciara asked, worriedly.

"Charged? Why?" She asked, "They were only defending their homes."

"La casa no se reclina sobre la tierra, sino sobre una mujer." Ciara said.

"Exactly." She agreed.

"Good job, Agent Gideon." She said and her eyes landed on Zoe before quickly darting away from her and she turned her head to speak to the men with her, "Vamos." And then they walked off.

When they walked outside, Hotch asked Ciara, "What did you say in there?"

"It's just an old Mexican proverb." Ciara said.

"La casa no se reclina sobre la tierra, sino sobre una mujer." Zoe repeated, "'The house does not rest upon the ground but upon a woman."

Elena Valdez face claim is Maria Canals-Barrera, I was stuck between her and Salma Hayek and then I thought maybe they could be a couple in secret.

Eva De La Rosa is played by Salma Hayek

Origianlly, Maze had a son but I think I'll introduce him later, like she's pregnant with him now so he can have face claim of Lesley-Ann Brandt's actual son who is only seven now.

El amor es ciego pero no las vecinas. — Spanish — “Love is blind but not the neighbors.”

——————————————————————————————————————

Translations:

La familia es toda — Spanish — The family is all

¿Hola? ¿Alguien en casa? — Spanish — Hello? Anybody home?

¿Estás bien? — Spanish — Are you all right?

¿Puedes oírme? — Spanish — Can you hear me?

Pueden salir, chicas. — Spanish — You can come on out, girls

——————————————————————————————————————

[katiefromcabin7]

WHAT THE FUCK I THOUGHT THAT I WOULD BE IN THE CLEAR TO FINISH THIS BOOK (i’m crying at work)

PLEASE RECOMMEND ME THE FLUFFIEST VALGRACE YOU GOT 😭😭😭

[gaygirldoodles]

No matter what you do, don't think about Leo Valdez

Don't think about the trauma of having his mother die like that at such a young age

Don't think about how his Tia Rosa treated him horribly despite how he was just a kid

Don't think about the amount of abuse he faced in all of those foster homes he was sent to

Don't think about how he had to run away from them, fending for himself on the streets over and over again

Don't think about him being sent to wilderness school, a thing notorious for being horrible towards the kids and downright traumatizing

Don't think about the people he knew even a little who were harmed by that system or even killed

Don't think about how the history of a friendship he held so dearly turned out to be fabricated by Juno. That it was all a lie

Don't think about him still being best friend with Jason - the real Jason - only for their to be a prophecy that one of them must die

Don't think about how he decided that it must be him

He couldn't let Jason die

Don't think about how he tells Hazel and Frank about his plan because Romans understant self-sacrifice, but Jason wouldn't. Jason, who's done nothing but sacrifice things for the people he cares about.

Don't think about how Leo and Jason never reunited after that.

Don't think about him finding out that his best friend, and someone he maybe even liked more than that, died.

"Where's Jason?"

But we all know that he knew

And he still asked

Don't think about how he would blame himself for that.

You can't avoid prophecies after all

They always have to be fulfilled somehow

Don't think about his mother, Esperanza

Don't think about how he spent weeks months in Bunker 9 building the Argo II barely interacting with anybody

Don't think about how he barely even celebrated Christmas if at all because the whole world depended on hin building this huge warship

Don't think about Leo using humor to hide how bad he truly feels just so that Gaea wouldn't win

He could not let her destroy him

Because as long as he didn't lose that part of himself, he was still winning, even if what she had done had left him broken

But you do want to think about how he was finally able to find a home.

A place that would accept him how he was

A place that would be safe for him

A place where he wouldn't have to run from abusive family members and fosters homes anymore

He once again had a family that loved him.

[lavenderfairiez]

valgrace reunion since rick robbed us

idk who told you Jason died, but I have proof he’s alive: see, here he is reuniting with Leo at the end of the burning maze after Jason DIDN’T die! Remember that part in tbm where Leo’s like “where’s Jason.” And then Jason comes running around the corner and hugs him? I certainly do.

[starlightshadowsworld]

There was a grave for Leo.

He told them not to get rid of it, even though he was very much alive.

He'd joke it was to freak new campers out.

But in actuality it was because while his grave was empty, the one beside it was not.

Jason.

Jason who was always terrified of being alone, of messing up and being left abandoned and unloved.

It was Leo's way of showing him that he wasn't alone.

Because Jason asked to be buried beside him.

And how could Leo deny him that.

[helyeahmangocheese]

woah Valhalla!Valgrace au where Leo actually dies while fighting Gaea and Jason dies shortly after re: tbm and by some mix up of the gods they are picked up by valkerie and become a part of the Floor 19 family.... aka a chance to work out feelings they never talked about while alive but also a chance for Leo Valdez and Alex Fierro to meet r u kidding me. I need this