Plot-bunny: Highlander/Criminal Minds
Sep. 28th, 2009 08:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
marblegloveI watched the first season of Criminal Minds on dvd some time back. The series is about an FBI response team that profiles serial killers. It was a lot of fun, but wow, it’s also a good way to start seeing serial killers everywhere. Then last week, I saw the most recent season premier.
And immediately wanted to add Methos to the mix.
Given that the season premier was fairly recent, the rest of the idea is under the spoiler cut.
Hotchner, one of the main profilers at the BAU, was attacked by the Boston Reaper who left him to survive knowing that the next target was his (Hotchner’s) ex-wife and young son. So at the end of the episode, the ex-wife and young son are taken by US Marshall’s into protective custody. Hotchner has promised his ex-wife that she’ll be able to return to her life as soon as he’s caught the bad guy but then tells one of his co-workers that they don’t have any leads and the guy has disappeared for ten years before. The scene is tailored to raise sympathy for Hotchner but my thoughts were for the poor ex-wife who suddenly found herself a single mother in exile.
Then I thought, here’s this woman who spent several years happily married to a guy who spends his time thinking about serial killers, and who only divorced him because he was never around. Let’s give her a past.
She was raised by Immortals of the Highlander universe. At eighteen, she left to go to college, cutting off all contact because she didn’t want to deal with the constant threat that The Game imposed on everyone involved with an Immortal. She met, fell in-love with, married, got annoyed with, and divorced Hotchner, all without ever involving the family who raised her. Then suddenly she was the target of a serial killer. She’s more than a bit bitter about this. This is the very reason, after all, that she had cut ties to her original family.
Well, if that was the case, then there’s no reason to remain out of contact. So for the first time in fifteen years she calls the family who raised her. (They gave her a permanent contact number before she left in case she was ever in need.) They say, hmm. I have a few favors owed, let’s call them in. And thus the story starts:
“Mr. Hotchner? I need to speak with you regarding your wife.”
“I don’t have any contact with her. I don’t know where she is.” He spoke calmly, mostly because he was used to speaking calmly while wanting to kill the person he spoke with. It was a necessary skill when dealing with serial killers.
“Yes, yes. The question is, would you like to? Some people called in some favors, and thus I am here to offer you a one-week vacation every year for the foreseeable future, in which you will meet up with your wife and son. Transportation and destination are my concerns as will be your safety. But during that time I guarantee your safety.”
Hotchner froze. “Who are you?”
“I’m a friend of a friend and I owe a rather large favor. Helping Haley in this way will pay it off.”
“Do not provide a link between Haley and myself! She’s the target of the Boston Reaper! You can’t protect her against someone like that.”
“Does that mean you are turning down the offer?”
“Yes! Don’t contact me again.”
“Very well.” The man started walking away.
“Wait.”
A raised eyebrow.
“That’s it? A favor large enough to encompass that, and you make me an impossible offer and leave?”
“In the attempt to be fair, I should tell you the offer was plan A. I actually prefer plan B, so I’m all for your turning down the original idea.”
“What’s plan B?”
“Simply dispose of the Boston Reaper and allow Haley to return to her life.”
“Just catch the Boston Reaper. If we could do that, we would have already.”
“Ah, but you don’t have bait.”
“Bait?”
“Haley, of course. All I need to do is make sure that the Boston Reaper knows where she is, and at least believes that you do as well. He’ll come to me.”
This finally made Hotchner lose his temper. “You’ll get her killed, you bastard!”
“It’s possible, but unlikely. I can stop one human killer with a preference for knives. And, frankly, doing that is a lot easier way to pay off the favor than a series of anonymous vacations.”
“You’re talking about a smart, experienced killer who’s gotten away with it for years.”
“Well, lucky you, you’re talking to a smarter and more experienced killer who’s survived being a target for even more years. Don’t worry.”
He smirked.
And thus the real action begins.
Of course, the real point of the story is to get the behavioral analysts of Criminal Minds working with someone who has an even more thorough understanding of how serial killers work. They probably know it, too, but can’t quite find any proof. Or maybe they do find proof and aren’t sure what to do with the fact that they have identified one of the men who released the Turkish Cannibal, given that he’s also helping them save one of their own. Choices, choices.
Plus,
“I’m not any more. I glutted myself on blood and death and finally became sated.”
“Then you weren’t a real serial killer. It’s a compulsion for these people. They have to have it, and every kill makes the need grow stronger.”
“Oh, I was the real deal all right. It’s just that you’ve caught all of your case studies before they body count got high enough to meet their needs.”
The smile he gave was chilling in the way that it was soft and amused and not at all what a self-confessed killer should be like.
Or then,
“A question of morality: who is the better man: a serial killer who stopped killing innocents and got on with his life as a pacifist or a serial killer who continues but always and only targets other serial killers?”
“Huh. It’s an interesting question. Why do you ask?”
“Well, you asked about the Turkish Cannibal. I helped get him out of prison because our brother was threatening me, but then set them both up for another killer. Now this third killer was most put-out with me. He thinks I’m a monster, or at least was one. And I was, certainly, but he doesn’t seem to think he is at all. It doesn’t occur to him.”
“That’s rather common to all sunsubs who target other unsubs. The others do it for the extra thrill.”
And immediately wanted to add Methos to the mix.
Given that the season premier was fairly recent, the rest of the idea is under the spoiler cut.
Hotchner, one of the main profilers at the BAU, was attacked by the Boston Reaper who left him to survive knowing that the next target was his (Hotchner’s) ex-wife and young son. So at the end of the episode, the ex-wife and young son are taken by US Marshall’s into protective custody. Hotchner has promised his ex-wife that she’ll be able to return to her life as soon as he’s caught the bad guy but then tells one of his co-workers that they don’t have any leads and the guy has disappeared for ten years before. The scene is tailored to raise sympathy for Hotchner but my thoughts were for the poor ex-wife who suddenly found herself a single mother in exile.
Then I thought, here’s this woman who spent several years happily married to a guy who spends his time thinking about serial killers, and who only divorced him because he was never around. Let’s give her a past.
She was raised by Immortals of the Highlander universe. At eighteen, she left to go to college, cutting off all contact because she didn’t want to deal with the constant threat that The Game imposed on everyone involved with an Immortal. She met, fell in-love with, married, got annoyed with, and divorced Hotchner, all without ever involving the family who raised her. Then suddenly she was the target of a serial killer. She’s more than a bit bitter about this. This is the very reason, after all, that she had cut ties to her original family.
Well, if that was the case, then there’s no reason to remain out of contact. So for the first time in fifteen years she calls the family who raised her. (They gave her a permanent contact number before she left in case she was ever in need.) They say, hmm. I have a few favors owed, let’s call them in. And thus the story starts:
“Mr. Hotchner? I need to speak with you regarding your wife.”
“I don’t have any contact with her. I don’t know where she is.” He spoke calmly, mostly because he was used to speaking calmly while wanting to kill the person he spoke with. It was a necessary skill when dealing with serial killers.
“Yes, yes. The question is, would you like to? Some people called in some favors, and thus I am here to offer you a one-week vacation every year for the foreseeable future, in which you will meet up with your wife and son. Transportation and destination are my concerns as will be your safety. But during that time I guarantee your safety.”
Hotchner froze. “Who are you?”
“I’m a friend of a friend and I owe a rather large favor. Helping Haley in this way will pay it off.”
“Do not provide a link between Haley and myself! She’s the target of the Boston Reaper! You can’t protect her against someone like that.”
“Does that mean you are turning down the offer?”
“Yes! Don’t contact me again.”
“Very well.” The man started walking away.
“Wait.”
A raised eyebrow.
“That’s it? A favor large enough to encompass that, and you make me an impossible offer and leave?”
“In the attempt to be fair, I should tell you the offer was plan A. I actually prefer plan B, so I’m all for your turning down the original idea.”
“What’s plan B?”
“Simply dispose of the Boston Reaper and allow Haley to return to her life.”
“Just catch the Boston Reaper. If we could do that, we would have already.”
“Ah, but you don’t have bait.”
“Bait?”
“Haley, of course. All I need to do is make sure that the Boston Reaper knows where she is, and at least believes that you do as well. He’ll come to me.”
This finally made Hotchner lose his temper. “You’ll get her killed, you bastard!”
“It’s possible, but unlikely. I can stop one human killer with a preference for knives. And, frankly, doing that is a lot easier way to pay off the favor than a series of anonymous vacations.”
“You’re talking about a smart, experienced killer who’s gotten away with it for years.”
“Well, lucky you, you’re talking to a smarter and more experienced killer who’s survived being a target for even more years. Don’t worry.”
He smirked.
And thus the real action begins.
Of course, the real point of the story is to get the behavioral analysts of Criminal Minds working with someone who has an even more thorough understanding of how serial killers work. They probably know it, too, but can’t quite find any proof. Or maybe they do find proof and aren’t sure what to do with the fact that they have identified one of the men who released the Turkish Cannibal, given that he’s also helping them save one of their own. Choices, choices.
Plus,
“I’m not any more. I glutted myself on blood and death and finally became sated.”
“Then you weren’t a real serial killer. It’s a compulsion for these people. They have to have it, and every kill makes the need grow stronger.”
“Oh, I was the real deal all right. It’s just that you’ve caught all of your case studies before they body count got high enough to meet their needs.”
The smile he gave was chilling in the way that it was soft and amused and not at all what a self-confessed killer should be like.
Or then,
“A question of morality: who is the better man: a serial killer who stopped killing innocents and got on with his life as a pacifist or a serial killer who continues but always and only targets other serial killers?”
“Huh. It’s an interesting question. Why do you ask?”
“Well, you asked about the Turkish Cannibal. I helped get him out of prison because our brother was threatening me, but then set them both up for another killer. Now this third killer was most put-out with me. He thinks I’m a monster, or at least was one. And I was, certainly, but he doesn’t seem to think he is at all. It doesn’t occur to him.”
“That’s rather common to all sunsubs who target other unsubs. The others do it for the extra thrill.”
