Verecund (Criminal Minds)

Chapter 1

Another day. Another flight. Another case. That's all it was. That's always what it was. The BAU team settled just outside Richmond, a case close to home. Three kids, kidnapped, found, and claimed by parents rested in the hospitals as the FBI team worked to find the unknown-subject.

"Uhm, guys?" The technology worker Penelope Garcia's voice rang softly over the phone in the office.

"What's up, babygirl?" Agent Derek Morgan looked up from his papers on the large desk in the middle of the room, watching the speakerphone as he listened.

"There's been another found victim, I'm sending you the information on your tablets."

Doctor Spencer Reid and Derek looked down at the tablets, a picture of a small teenage girl sitting in the corner. Her clothes were loose and tattered; bruises and scars littered what was visible of her body. Her messy dark brown hair reached just past her ears and hung in front of her face.

"There's been another victim," Agent Aaron Hotchner called as he entered the room, followed by Agent David Rossi, Agent Jennifer Jareau and Agent Emily Prentiss.

"We're already looking at it," Derek replied quickly.

"Looks different than the rest," JJ pointed out. "Looks worse. Is our unsub escalating?"

"I don't know," Derek sighed at the photo. "Did we get her name?"

"She hasn't spoken yet," Penelope spoke over the phone again. "A picture and information was posted about her, but nothing's come up yet. As far as we know... She doesn't exist."

"So she's not communicating," Spencer confirmed. "It's obviously a sign of PTSD, but none of the other three kids showed that. And even if our unsub was escalating, he wouldn't have gone this far this quickly. We might be dealing with a sadist-masochist team. Garcia, how bad and how new were the wounds on the girl?"

"Don't know. She won't let anybody close enough to get a good check."

"Are we able to see her?"

"Yeah, she's in Bon Secour's Hospital in the Emergency Wing."

"Thanks, babygirl," Derek called as the team stood to visit the hospital, and the phone hung up with a loud click.

"Morgan, you, Reid and I will try to get whatever we can out of the victim," Hotchner instructed. "Rossi, you go with Prentiss and JJ to see what else we can find between the other victims." The team piled into the large black SUV's titled with the FBI's logo and went their separate ways.

It wasn't too long until Hotchner and his partners reached the driveway of the hospital, showing off their credentials with a sense of purpose before being allowed into the back hallway to a dim room.

A girl sat on the very far corner, her knees tucked tightly to her chest. Her pixie-cut-styled hair moved in front of her face as she hid in the corner. Derek gazed at his two partners before Hotchner nodded, and Derek slowly stepped into the room, sitting quietly in front of the girl.

"Hey, I'm Derek," he introduced himself gently. "I'm part of the police team. Can you tell me your name?"

The brown-haired girl didn't acknowledge him, and gazed at the floor in front of her. She didn't even make eye contact with the profiler as he sat silently in front of her.

"She might not speak English," Hotchner offered softly.

Derek focused down at his lap before looking back up at the teenage girl. "Me llamo Derek," he said. The girl still made no move to respond or even look at him.

Derek finally dared to gently touch the girl, placing his hand softly on her knee. She flinched away and curled tighter into herself. The profiler slowly took his hand away, standing up slowly and walking back to his team.

"Somebody's got to be missing this girl," he remarked to the partners.

"Nobody's come forward to claim her," Hotchner reminded. "But even if she was an orphan, the adoption centre caretaker would have claimed her."

"Maybe she isn't responding because she's deaf," Spencer offered suddenly. "She might not know what to do."

"Maybe," Derek agreed.

Reid slowly began making his way into the room, carefully sitting down in front of the girl. She leaned back as far as she could from the doctor, keeping her gaze down.

"Hi," Spencer greeted softly, barely audible. "I'm Spencer. Can you hear me?"

The dark-haired girl focused her eyes around before looking back down in the corner near her lap. Her knees were so tightly bound to her and her head was so far down that her face was almost hidden by her legs.

'What is your name,' Spencer signed out with his hands. This caught the girl's attention, and she looked up at his pale hands. 'Can you tell me your name,' he signed.

Spencer's shoulders slumped slightly as her gaze fell back down and she looked disinterested.

"Hey, kid," Derek said softly as he stood next to the place on the floor that Spencer sat. "We're gonna go talk to the doctors and talk to the rest of the team. You gonna be okay here with her?"

Spencer gave a small nod of acknowledgement. "Of course," he replied quietly.

Almost silent footsteps left the room, and Spencer sat in silence near the girl. He could see she was probably fifteen or sixteen, and probably needed glasses with the way she blinked and focused on each object she stared at, her eyes not completely focusing on any target.

"Can you tell me your name?" Spencer asked out loud softly.

The doctor watched as her jaw tightened and she paused, but her hand came from around her stomach, closing into a fist and making a motion.

"Ash? Your name is Ash," Spencer confirmed.

The girl nodded, her messy and tangled hair hanging and moving in front of her face.

"Are you able to hear me, Ash?"

The girl nodded once again, curling tightly against the corner again, still not making eye contact with the man.

"Can you tell me what happened?"

Ash gave no answer, and she only continued to stare into the space between her face and her curled up lap.

"Where are you from?"

Once again, there was no answer. Ash paused for a moment before her hand came up to make a hook motion with an open palm.

Nowhere.