For Prev. Chapt.
The BAU headquarters is on the 6th floor
Name: Elliot May Brookes (Elli)
A.K.A: Nemesis Greek goddess of vengeance and retribution for the sin of hubris
DOB: 02/27/XX 20yrs old
Parents: Amanda Brookes, Mom (forensic psychologist), Jennifer Brookes, Mama (fashion designer)
Mental: Sociopath
Height: 5'4 (163cm)
Eyes: brown-green (Hazel)
Hair: pale strawberry blonde, medium length just past shoulder blades. Keeps it up with claw clips and hair pins, dislikes how hair ties makes her head feel tight.
Body Type: lean muscley
Tattoo: Fern tattoo w/ 3 dates as the stem (1. when she met Adam & Michael, 2. when she saved Adam & Michael, 3. When she was adopted)
Degrees: masters in Forensic Psychology and Forensic Anthropology, bachelors in Criminology and Associates Culinary degree
Pronouns: She/Her
Clothes style: Comfortable, loose fitting. Shoes no heels. Dislikes dresses. Sweatpants, leggings, button ups.
Emotions:
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Trauma:
Elliot was abandoned as a baby and put into the foster care system. The first home she was put in was with an middle-aged woman, Mary (40s-50s), who took care of her till she was 6. Elliot was placed into a different home when Mary was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.
This new home, despite appearances, was abusive. Aaron & Elis Sherman. They fostered 2 boys alongside Elliot: Michael and Adam. Elis withheld food and clean clothes from the children while her husband abused them physically, abusing the boys sexually. When Elli turned 9, the boys/her brothers 10, she found out what was happening to Adam and Michael she started acting out. Forcing Aaron's attention to be on her instead of the boys until she got her chance to protect them. One night after dinner Elliot was assigned to do the dishes while the boys cleaned up the leftovers. Elis and Aaron were arguing in the kitchen until Elis stormed out of the house, Aaron turned to the boys to let out his anger when Elli moved to stand in front of them, a knife she was washing in hand, and Aaron struck her instead. In his rage he started to yell and scream and Elliot, calm and collected, stood up from where she fell, gripped the knife and stormed forward, stabbing Aaron in the sides and stomach and when he fell forward in pain she stabbed his neck.
After words while standing over his dead body covered in his blood Elliot felt hungry despite having just ate, though what little food it may have been. Stepping around the body and ignoring the boys' crying Elliot put the knife on the counter, cleaned the blood off of her hands, and made herself and the boys sandwiches before calling the police.
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Institutionalized:
After the incident Elliot felt curious about herself for feeling hungry and the calmness she had felt beforehand. As per protocol she was sent to see a psychologist where Elliot talked about her curiosity and so her case agent and the psychologist talked to her about psychological evaluations. After the evaluations it was tested positive that Elliot was a sociopath; she then asked her case agent if she could learn more about herself and was sent to a facility that would help her learn about herself, how to control any urges she may have. Elliot was there for 2 years before being released back into the custody of her case agent who spent those years looking for a good home for Elli.
By the time Elliot was released her case agent found a home for her with a forensic psychologist, Dr. Amanda Brookes, and a fashion designer, Jennifer Brookes.
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Adoption:
Amanda Brookes is a forensic psychologist and referred to as Mom. Jennifer Brookes is a fashion designer and referred to as Mama.
They taught Elliot how to read expressions and emotions, also how to understand why people feel specific emotions that she has trouble understanding or cannot feel herself.
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CASE 1:
3 men brutally murdered and ripped apart in their homes. The room they were killed in, the bedroom, is a mess. All of the men's belongings are thrown around and broken, the men's' blood (nearly all pints) is pooled on the floor and splattered/smeared on the walls and bed.
After the kill, the unsub sews the victims back together, redresses them, and places them in a chair or back on the bed.
Location: Sublette, Wyoming
Victims: Divorced dads who abandoned their kids or didn't get custody of them in the divorce.
Steven Turner: 43yrs old, Married at 23 Divorced at 38. 2 kids : 8 & 5 he provides child support for but isn't allowed visitation or custody. Works as an investment banker = well off.
Blake William: 36yrs old, Married at 28 Divorced at 34. 1 kid : 6 was granted visitation but never shows and doesn't provide any support. Restaurant cook = gambling addict.
Alexander Davis: 49yrs old, Married at 25 Divorced at 42. 1 kid : 15 has split custody. Works on/manages a farm and sells what he grows, also hosts field trips and gardening classes = Rich.
Unsub: 28yrs old woman.
- Stressor: Was abandoned by her Mother at 10 and her father at 15.
- Trigger: Boyfriend left her after finding out she was pregnant.
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Sitting in the cold concrete room the single occupant watches, bored, as an older blonde woman dressed in a black pantsuit is escorted into the interrogation room. Recognizing the woman, the prisoner’s boredom dissipates as the sound of the steel door locking sounds throughout the room. The blonde takes a moment to meet the female prisoner’s eyes before sitting down, attempting to show her dominance in the situation and take control of the conversation before it starts.
Elliot watches the blonde sitting across the steel table shift in her seat, her hands clasped and resting on a black leather padfolio. Section Chief Strauss tries to hide her discomfort at being alone in a room with a serial killer, but Elliot was taught how to read emotions and micro-expressions by her mom. Elliot leans forward, resting her head in her hands, letting a comforting smile grace her lips.
“Isn’t this a bit below your pay grade, Chief? Hmm. What are you doing here anyway?”
Erin Strauss’s hands tighten around each other at the misguiding tone of voice. Informal but polite. For some reason, Erin finds it unsettling, knowing what this younger woman has done. Ignoring her own discomfort, Strauss pulls a sheet of paper from her padfolio and places it in front of the other. “I have a proposition for you, Ms. Brookes. Given your talents, degrees, and expertise, I would like for you to come work at the FBI in the Behavioral Analysis Unit. You would be working alongside our current team as a consultant, bringing in other serial killers and offenders.”
‘Current, huh.’ Elliot thought to herself, making a mental note of Strauss’ wording. She slides the paper closer, reading it over quickly. It’s a working contract stating more details and rules to the offer Strauss just spoke of. ‘No weapon permits. Probation with an ankle monitor. 24/7 surveillance. After case reports. This is pretty standard, if not unconventional.’
“What’s in it for me?” Elliot leans back, sweeping her pale strawberry blonde hair over the back of the chair so she doesn’t sit on it. “You get my knowledge, experience, and a not-so-secret spy in that team. So what. Do. I. Get?”
Strauss is careful not to react to Elliot’s blunt way of speaking. “Ms. Brookes, it isn’t stated or implied anywhere that you are to act as a so-called ‘spy.’”
“No? You said ‘our current team,’ implying that you or someone else is planning on changing the members of this team, if you’re not planning on getting rid of it completely.” Elliot meets the Section Chief’s eyes, maintaining her polite smile against the emotionless woman, who ignored the serial killer’s statement.
“If you do agree to this offer, you will be paid for your work. I can get any jail time you may have turned into probation, where you will have to wear an ankle monitor that will be monitored by the FBI. You will be placed in an apartment near the BAU headquarters that will be completely paid for by the FBI until the end of your contracted period, at which point another contract will be written up and a probationary evaluation will be had. All of your necessities will be taken care of during the first month, but afterward all groceries and clothing you will have to take care of yourself.” Erin puffs up at the pleased look that flits across the other’s face. “So, will you be accepting my offer, Ms. Brookes?”
The interrogation room settles into silence as Elliot considers the offer and weighs her options. Three minutes pass of Erin and Elliot staring each other in the eyes before Elliot responds.
“I want any paper trail connecting me to… ‘Nemesis’ to be just that, a paper trail. I want all online files to disappear, the security tapes to be put onto USB drives or cassette tapes, and deleted anywhere else. If you can do that, I’ll agree. It has only been a few days, but orange jumpsuits really aren’t my thing.”
“I’ll see what I can do.” The request sounds reasonable given that she is sending a serial killer to work with experts on the topic. If they decide to run a background check on Elliot Brookes, the team would be less resistant if they do not know what she has done. Though Strauss knows she can’t make any promises based on what Penelope Garcia can or cannot do.
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Stepping out of the elevator and into the foyer of the BAU headquarters, Elliot turns off her music and pulls out her earbuds, wrapping them up and putting them in the pocket of her sweatpants as she looks around. Elliot ignores the curious glances sent her way from agents passing by in favor of meeting Chief Strauss’s disapproving stare and walks over to where the blonde stands in front of the BAU doors.
The two stand still in front of each other for a moment. Elliot is looking behind Strauss through the glass doors and into the bullpen where she will be working as she waits for Strauss to take her to meet the team. Chief Strauss glances down at the outfit that the strawberry blonde has chosen to wear for her first day of work at the FBI. Dark purple sweatpants that are one size too big, paired with a forest green long-sleeved crop top that shows off a black-ink fern leaf tattoo crawling up her right side, and a black leather backpack purse hanging off of her shoulder.
Not bothering to hide her disapproval, Strauss speaks up, eyeing the faint outline of Elliot’s ankle monitor hidden under her sweatpants. “Ms. Brookes, are you sure that is what you should be wearing to work in a government agency?”
“Well, Chief, you’re the one who didn’t put a dress code in my contract. And it’s too late to change it now.” Elliot gives the Section Chief a blank stare.
Strauss turns sharply on her heels and enters the BAU bullpen, not checking to see if Elliot followed behind her. “The team is currently reviewing a case. I had a go-bag prepared for you and placed on your desk; you’re seated across from SSA Derek Morgan. Your FBI ID and computer logins are in the side pocket.”
Elliot follows Strauss up to the walkway leading to a conference room. She makes note of the empty desk by the entrance with a duffle bag sitting on it.
“Agent Morgan is the team's acting unit chief as Agent Hotchner recently stepped down due to a previous case. While out in the field, you will answer to Morgan, but you will turn in your case reports to me since I am in charge of your probation check-ins.” Strauss stops walking once they’re outside the conference room and looks over her shoulder at Elliot. “It goes without saying that anything related to your criminal record is confidential, including how you were hired.”
Without knocking, the older woman opens the door to the conference room, startling the blonde tech analyst standing at the front of the room. The eyes of the six other agents sitting around the table turn to see who Penelope Garcia is staring at.
“Section Chief Strauss,” David Rossi speaks up, seeing his unit chief just as confused as the rest of his team. “To what do we owe the pleasure?”
Elliot steps around Strauss in order to see all of the room's occupants, studying them as they do the same to her. She makes a mental note of how they all look at her. The older man who spoke up glances at her curiously but warily, like he subconsciously recognizes what she is. The thin, tall man sitting next to him spares Elliot curious glances while keeping his main focus on Strauss and Rossi. Two men Elliot assumes are the current and former unit chiefs keep their attention split between her and Strauss, trying to figure out why they’re here. The two women on the team, one blonde and one with black hair, keep their eyes on her, suspicious. And finally the tech analyst is gazing at Elliot with a smile and bright eyes, showing her pure curiosity that Elliot predicts will soon turn hostile.
“Rossi. Morgan,” Erin addresses the team leader, letting her animosity towards the two men show, and gestures to the smaller woman next to her. “This here is Dr. Elliot Brookes. She has been hired as a pseudo-consultant for the FBI and assigned to this team. I think a… fresh pair of eyes might do you all some good while out in the field.”
Derek stands from his seat in front of Strauss and meets her gaze. “Pardon me, Ma’am. But isn’t this something I should’ve been notified about beforehand?”
“This was a quickly made decision, Agent Morgan. Her assignment to this team was just processed this morning. Now if you will excuse me, it seems we both have jobs to get to.” Strauss nods to the TV that shows headshots of three men before turning on her heels and walking away.
Closing his eyes Derek lets out a deep sigh at Strauss’s clear show of superiority. He opens his eyes and turns to Elliot, reaching out to shake her hand in greeting. “I’m sorry about that. I’m SSA Derek Morgan, acting unit chief for the team.”
Accepting his hand Elliot nods in response to his greeting. She keeps silent as Morgan lets go of her hand and starts to introduce the rest of the team.
“These are SSA Aaron Hotchner and David Rossi. Agents Emily Prentiss and Jennifer Jareau, along with Dr. Spencer Reid and our technical analyst Penelope Garcia.” Each of them waved a greeting as their names were called.
Putting on a polite smile, Elliot meets each of their eyes as she speaks. “Hello, I’m Elliot Brookes, and I look forward to working with you all.” She wanders around to the side of the room, ignoring Derek as he moves to offer her his chair, and plops down on the cushioned bench against the wall. Setting her bag down beside her, Elliot pulls out a small notepad and pen and turns toward the TV. “So, who are those three?”
“Uh, Garcia.” Derek motions for the colorfully dressed woman to continue with the briefing as he sits down.
Startled out of her stupor, Garcia quickly glances at the men on the screen and back up at the others. “Right, yes. Um… three men in Sublette, Wyoming, were found in their homes having been dismembered. Steven Turner was found three weeks ago on a Thursday when a neighbor was walking his dog.” She clicks the remote, showing the crime scene photos of each victim. “Blake William was found the next Thursday by his sponsor, and Alexander Davis was found last Thursday by his 15-year-old daughter.”
Elliot quickly jots down a shorthand for Penelope’s short summary, pausing to examine the crime scene photos. Bedrooms with blood pooled on the floor and beds with the ceiling covered in dark red spattering and the walls with crimson smears as if the victims or unsub fell over and tried to crawl up them. With another click of the remote from Garcia, close-up photos are shown of the victims sitting up in armchairs dressed pristinely.
Listening to the group as they toss their observations and thoughts back and forth, Elliot stands and moves closer to the TV in order to get a closer look at the victims.
“The mess of the bedrooms shows that the unsub may be killing spontaneously. The unsub visits them not planning to kill them, but something they say or do angers him.” Emily says, flipping through the crime reports.
Rossi nods his head in agreement. “The unsub doesn’t bring his own tools. Alexander was killed with a common kitchen knife and dismembered with an axe from his garage. Blake was suffocated with the tie he was wearing and dismembered with a butcher knife and hammer. And Steven, also with a kitchen knife and hammer.”
“Though he does come prepared.” Spencer looks up from the file and allows his gaze to flit to each of them as he talks animatedly. “According to the M.E.’s report, all of them were sewn back together with nylon thread. The act of putting the bodies back together, cleaning them up, and positioning them like that may be the unsub showing remorse or guilt for what he had done.”
“You’re wrong.” At Elliot’s words, they all turn to stare at her. They don’t know anything about Dr. Elliot Brookes, and they all agree with Reid’s assumption about the unsub’s guilt. Prepared to question Elliot and defend Spencer, Aaron takes a deep breath, but then Elliot turns around, feeling eyes on her.
Furrowing her brows at the sudden hostile attention, she thinks back to what was said before she spoke. “Oh, no. Not about the remorse thing; I have no idea about that. The unsub is female, not male.”
“What makes you say that?” Hotch redirects his hostile protection to hear the younger woman out.
“These indentations here by all of the victim's feet,” Elliot points to four oval-shaped bloody prints on the floor by Blake’s feet, close in width but the length is at a distance. She then points to a wrinkled outline on the victim’s pants. “And here on his lap. My mom is a forensic psychologist, and she worked on this case once where they identified the killer with the imprints of his knees and feet when he knelt over a body. Body imprints are unique. These ones here, the oval imprints, are weighty and small, so someone small and maybe weighs around 150 pounds. And the distance from the knees to the feet can give a height estimate. I’d say around 5’6 or 5’7, but I’m not that good with numbers and math.”
Once she finished speaking, the room fell into a stunned silence. After a quick moment, Jareau interrupted the quiet. “That’s actually really helpful and interesting.”
Pulling everyone else back to the case, Hotch started to pack up the file and stand. “Right, well, we should get ready to leave.”
“Yeah, wheels up in thirty.” Derek announces, causing everyone to put their files together and leave the room to collect their go-bags. “Dr. Brookes?”
“No need for the doctor. I don’t need my status to make people acknowledge me.” Elliot states in a matter-of-fact tone, and finishing writing down her observations, she puts her notepad in her bag and follows Derek out of the room.
“Alright, Brookes. Did Strauss have you prepare a go-bag beforehand?”
“She had one prepared for me. I don’t know what was packed, but I can make do for a few days if need be.”
“Okay. When you are ready to go, I can give you a ride to the airport if you’d like.”
Elliot takes a breath to study his offer and expression, only seeing a hidden curiosity and no double meaning or second agenda; she agrees and gives him a thankful expression. “I haven’t had much time to get to know the area yet, so that would be great. Thank you.”
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Elliot has never flown in an airplane before, preferring road trips over close proximity to disgusting strangers, and she quickly learns that while air travel isn’t too bad she finds it unsettling. Though she does find it curious that the profilers she is traveling with do not feel them same, because while they are discussing the victim’s backgrounds and sorting out how to proceed once they land, Elliot is listening along with one ear and has 80’s rock music blaring in the other while eating popcorn out of a sandwich bag she had prepared the night before.
Sitting criss-cross on a bench seat next to Rossi, Elliot tries to keep her primary focus on the discussion and not on the signals going off in her brain every time the jet turns or hits a sudden gust of air.
“So far no race or gender lines have been crossed. All of the victims are divorced white men with kids, though Alexander Davis is the only one that has contact with his child.” Emily says while rereading the victims’ files. “Steven paid child support but was denied any type of custody and visitation and Blake William was granted visitation but never showed.”
“Hey Garcia, Blake William was found by his sponsor?” Reid asks.
Garcia speaks up from a computer placed on the table. “Yep. Brian Miller. According to his statement to the local officers, Mr. William had severe gambling addiction that caused his divorce two years ago and after the divorce he started to drink pretty heavily. He started going to AA about 4 months ago.”
“Can you see if the other two victims also attended some type of support group in the past year? And check out their financial backgrounds?”
“You got it, wonder boy.” With a clack of her keyboard Penelope ended the videochat. With a huff of amusement Reid goes back to making a geographical profile, pausing when Derek starts to hand out assignments.
“Okay, Hotch and Prentiss, you two to go to the latest crime scene and see what you can find. JJ and Reid try to get in contact with the victims' families; the latest victim was found by his daughter so contact them first. And Rossi, go to the morgue and find out what you can about how the unsub treated the bodies.” Derek pauses for a moment thinking of where Elliot should go. He holds back his reaction to the pale strawberry-blonde snacking during their case review. “Brookes, since we don’t know what your specialties are, what would you like to do when we land?”
Elliot swallows the popped kernels she was chewing on and closes the ziplock bag, mentally noting the disgust she spots hidden in the unit chief's eyes at her actions. “Right, there was no formal introduction. I have Masters degrees in both Forensic Psychology and Forensic Anthropology. A Bachelor's degree in Criminology and an Associates culinary degree.”
The group shows a mixture of confusion and curiosity at her last degree.
“If you don’t mind me asking, how old are you?” Spencer asks, eyebrows scrunched together.
She watches the gears turn in everyone’s heads. “I’m 20.”
Emily groans jokingly, “Great, another genius.” A few others chuckle. So does Elliot, smiling as she watches how they react to each other.
“Thanks for the compliment but I’m not a genius. I get bored easily and during highschool I signed up for a couple online college courses. Plus I figured adding to my workload would keep my Mama from using me as a dress-up doll.”
Derek chuckles and nods in understanding, having grown up with two sisters and a female cousin he got dragged into playing dress up once or twice. “Alright, how about you go with Rossi to the morgue. See if you can pick up anything we missed.”
“Alright.” Elliot agrees, taking a second before reopening her popcorn bag when she notices that Rossi was still looking at her. “What?”
Rossi’s eyebrows are furrowed telling her he is confused yet his eyes show interest and curiosity. “Your culinary degree doesn’t exactly match the others?”
Elliot takes a moment before responding, not knowing how to not explain that her interest in cooking stemmed from her not-so-legal pastimes. “...My Mama was away a lot during fashion debuts and when Mom has a case it’s all she thinks about. I picked up cooking pretty quickly and thought it would be an easy degree that would get me summer jobs.”
He seems satisfied with her answer when JJ speaks up. “Are you adopted?” Elliots nods, popping some of her salty snack into her mouth. “Wouldn’t semi-absent parents cause them to be disqualified to adopt?”
At this question the team's eyes are back on Elliot. She can feel them profiling her and her words, so Elliot pulls her lips into a dominance smile. “My case worker thought it would be best to put me with someone that could professionally understand my… condition and help manage it.”
It is Hotchner again that takes the protective role as Elliot’s smile and words put him in unease. “Your parents are a fashion designer and a psychologist, correct? What condition do you have?”
“You are right.” Elliot meets all of their questioning gazes before relieving what Straus should have. “I was diagnosed as a sociopath when I was nine. Right after I had killed my foster father, actually.”
The emotions in the jet are everywhere and Elliot revels as she takes them all in. Just because she has been stopped from killing and banned from continuing her research doesn’t mean she can’t satiate her brain in simpler ways. They show their protection for one another and are guarded against her. Anger at her being there. Confusion as to how she got a job with them. Worry and interest from a brunette genius who squints his eyes at her ankles while clenching his lips shut.
Oh yeah, Elliot definitely does not regret accepting Straus’s offer.