Erika: A 'Criminal Minds' Fan-Episode, Part 1

(A panoramic view of Seattle, Washington is shown as soft music plays. Outside of a quaint suburban home, a darkly colored sedan rumbles to a gradual stop before killing its headlights, the dark silhouette of the driver gazing out the passenger side window at the lone light still visibly burning inside the house.)

Driver: …

(From the glove compartment of the car the figure withdraws a polished chrome revolver that gleams ominously in the wan moonlight, popping the chamber out of the gun and methodically loading bullets into the individual slots before slapping it loudly back into place, drawing back the hammer.)

Driver: (softly) So it begins…

(The shot of the nighttime exterior dissolves and re-forms into one of a warmly colored bedroom, where a girl in her mid-teens sits typing away on the laptop situated in front of her as the same song pipes in at a softer volume through her earbuds. A knock on the door draws her attention and she gently removes the headphones, glancing up to meet the gaze of a smiling middle-aged woman standing in the doorframe.)

Laura: (chuckling) Alright kiddo, I’m heading to bed…You ought to consider doing so yourself soon. The Walshes are expecting you over bright and early tomorrow, and their boy Tommy has turned into quite the rambunctious one since your last time over there…You’ll need your rest.

Erika: I will, trust me. I just need to wrap this up real quick, it’ll give me one less thing to worry about over the weekend…

(Laura sleepily crosses the room to stand beside Erika’s bed, examining her computer screen.)

Laura: (yawning) Is this still that project…? Geez, you’ve been going on that since you woke up this morning.

Erika: (shrugs) You always say that the right way isn’t always the quick way…Besides, Whitney and Josh haven’t been pulling their weight, again, so I’m having to pick up the slack.

Laura: And here I was thinking that teenagers were put on this Earth solely to sit on their phones and cause high blood pressure…

(The two share a laugh, and Laura leans down to gently kiss Erika’s forehead.)

Laura: Good night, sweetheart…Don’t stay up too late.

Erika: (smiling) I won’t. Good night, Mom.

(As Erika slips her earbuds back in, Laura crosses the room before stepping out into the hallway, closing the door behind her. The shot transitions to an older woman reading a book by lamplight in a small leather recliner when a phone resting on a nearby coffee table begins to ring, and she rises to answer it.)

Diana: Hello? ...Miss Logan. I’d say your call is unexpected, but I wouldn’t exactly be telling the truth.

(As the caller gives her response, the camera cuts outside to the ground-level window through which Diana is visible, the silhouetted driver stepping into view with the revolver gripped tightly in its gloved hand.)

Caller: Diana, before you say anything, I want you to know that I’m calling on her behalf and not my own…

Diana: Well, that’s generous of you. But you’re inadvertently helping yourself by doing so, aren’t you…?

Caller: (angrily) I’d watch that high and mighty tone if I were you, considering you’re doing the exact same thing…I don’t give a damn what you think about me, you can run my name through the mud a hundred times over. She is innocent in all of this…She’s a young girl with her whole life ahead of her, who doesn’t deserve to have her future marred in some tabloid scandal brought to light by a gold digger looking for her five minutes.

(Helen angrily turns away from the window as the figure appears in it, returning to her original position not even a second after it stalks off.)

Helen: Maybe you should have thought of that before you started anything inappropriate with her, Sarah…I mean come on, did you honestly think no one would ever find out? The way I’ve handled things has resulted in what is likely to be the best-case scenario for you…I could have easily reported you to the police, but chose to resolve this as an internal affair instead.

Caller: Have you listened to a word I’ve said…? Or is the harm you’ll do simply outweighed by the thought of having your picture on the six o’clock news?

Diana: Hollow threats and cheap platitudes, Miss Logan…What you’re doing is wrong, and simply cannot continue. This conversation is over.

(The other end of the line is silent for several long seconds.)

Diana: …Sarah?

Caller: …Ding dong, Diana.

(The doorbell rings out, startling Diana, and echoes through the house before falling silent. Again raising the phone to her ear, she’s met with the sharp sound of the dial tone and tosses the device aside, rushing into the kitchen and grabbing a steak knife from a nearby rack.)

Diana: …

(Slowly approaching the door, Diana readies her knife and gently twists the doorknob, but a kick from the outside sends it flying open and the figure steps inside with its gun brandished. Firing a pair of shots, the rounds find a home in Diana’s chest and she topples to the ground as the attacker makes their way over to her.)

Diana: (coughing/choking) P-please…Please…

(The figure chambers another bullet and levels the barrel of the revolver at Diana’s head, squeezing the trigger. The shot switches back to Erika’s bedroom as the hot pop rings out, and the girl casts a glance out the far window before rising to turn off a nearby lamp.)

Erika: …?

(The scene cuts outside to the figure’s waiting car parked across the street, and as the light winks off the killer climbs out of the vehicle, drawing back the hammer of the pistol. The picture gradually dissolves into one of the BAU Round Table room, where a photo of a smiling Diana is displayed on the screen at the head of the room.)

Garcia: Get your big, beautiful brains in gear, crime fighters, because there is some uber weirdness going down in Seattle. Diana Portnoy, 51-year-old assistant principal at Garfield High School, was found dead in her home last night by officers responding to a call about gunshots in her neighborhood.

Rossi: The front door was left standing open, and according to the report there wasn’t any other sign of forced entry present…She either knew the UnSub or he used a ruse to gain entry.

Lewis: (scrolling through photos) I’m not so sure about that first one…I don’t usually make a point out of greeting houseguests with a knife like that.

JJ: So she knew that she was being threatened…But why confront him rather than run or hide?

Reid: It’s quite possible she felt like she was trapped, and fight or flight dictated that she make a stand since escape was no longer an option.

Rossi: Speaking of weapons, a .22 is a bit of an odd caliber choice for a home invasion…A bullet with a broader bore is usually more reassuring for finishing the job.

Hotch: It definitely speaks to the UnSub’s level of skill…He was confident that he could take her down with it before she had a chance to escape or call for help.

Reid: It’s also possible he was compensating for the response time of local law enforcement, less noise from a smaller caliber gun would possibly slow discovery.

Rossi: I’d say that’s unlikely, considering that he left the door wide open…It’s more plausible that he did want her found, just when he wanted her to be.

(More crime scene photos appear on-screen alongside two new headshots, one being Susan and the other a middle-aged man.)

Garcia: Right, which brings us to our other victims…Brian and Susan Matlin, 46 and 42, respectively. Brian was an ex-Seattle PD officer-turned-security guard and volunteer firefighter; Susan was a real estate agent working from home.

Lewis: Looks like a completely different crime scene…A back window was broken in order to gain entry to the house.

(The picture fades and resolves into the interior of the Matlins’ darkened bedroom, where the sound of shattering glass stirs Susan while Brian remains fast asleep.)

Susan: (sleepily, nervously) Mmph…Brian, what was that…? (turns to Brian, shaking him) …Brian!

(Slipping out of bed, Susan retrieves a handgun from the nightstand closest to Brian and creeps down the stairs into the kitchen.)

Garcia: (V.O.) Yeah, different murder weapon and cause of death too. Susan died of blood loss from a stab wound to her femoral artery…

Susan: Who’s there?! Come out, or I’ll shoot!

(Pacing over to a set of knives on a nearby counter, Susan lowers the gun and examines the empty spot in the holder before the figure appears behind her, whipping a hand over her mouth.)

Susan: (panicked, muffled) MMPH!! MMM—

(The assailant plunges the knife into her leg before sending her to the ground with a single punch, retrieving the weapon and wiping blood off the blade with a gloved hand.)

Garcia: (V.O.) And Brian was stabbed repeatedly in bed.

(Back in the bedroom, Brian shifts slightly as a dark figure slips into bed next to him.)

Brian: (sleepily) Nnh…What was it, Susan…?

UnSub: (quietly) It was the Grim Reaper.

Brian: Wha—MMPH!!

(The UnSub thrusts a pillow over Brian’s face and leaps on top of him, brandishing the knife before plunging it down. The shot quickly switches back to the Round Table room.)

JJ: Okay, so we’ve got a different M.O., different murder weapon, different level of organization…(shrugs) How are these crimes related?

Garcia: Because there is indeed an overlap, just not one that was entirely apparent until the profession of the dear departed Ms. Portnoy was discovered…

(Yet another image, one of Erika, appears on screen.)

Garcia: This is Erika Cho, she’s the Matlins’ sixteen-year-old adopted daughter. Friends of the family tried calling her when she didn’t show up to babysit their son this morning and called the police after multiple failed attempts to reach all of them.

(As Garcia talks a figure enters Erika’s bedroom, creeping over to the window and opening it carefully before crouching down beside the inert form of the sleeping girl, lowering its hood to reveal the face of a young woman with short blonde hair.)

Woman: (shaking Erika) Erika…Erika, wake up…

Erika: (stirring groggily) Mmph…Sarah…? (sits up, rubbing eyes) What are you doing here…?

Sarah: Sorry for just showing up like this…I wanted to see you, but I had to make sure your parents were asleep first.

Erika: (yawning, checking alarm clock) It’s so late…I’ve got to get up early tomorrow to watch Tommy Walsh.

Sarah: I know…It’d just be for an hour or two, I’d have you back before anyone noticed. Please…? With everything that’s been going on recently, this might be our last opportunity for a long time.

(Erika casts a glance downward, thinking it over, before nodding in approval.)

Erika: Gimme a second to throw some clothes on.

(Back in the conference room, Lewis sifts through a stack of papers sitting in front of her.)

Lewis: The report doesn’t say anything about her body being found at the scene…

Garcia: That’s because it wasn’t—she’s still missing with her status unknown, hence the reason an Amber Alert hasn’t been issued.

Rossi: No matter the purpose, obtaining the girl was the UnSub’s top priority…She was his primary target.

Garcia: Right which brings me back to the connection…As JJ so kindly pointed out, not a lot was found linking the crime scenes until Seattle PD began combing the victims’ backgrounds, and the discovery was made that Erika is a student at…

Hotch: (interrupting) Garfield High School.

(Hotch rises to his feet, the camera panning around the table as he talks before returning to him.)

Hotch: If she’s still alive, then the clock is ticking on the time we have statistically to find her that way. Wheels up in twenty.

(In the dark bedroom Sarah stands leaning on the frame of the open door and Erika, now dressed in street clothes, walks up behind her and gently lights a hand down upon her shoulder, startling her.)

Sarah: You scared the crap out of me…You ready to go?

Erika: Sorry…Yeah, let me just grab my phone—

Sarah: (rolls eyes) You teenagers and your phones…It’s not like you’re gonna be using it anyways, or so I would hope.

Erika: Right… (chuckles) Sorry.

(Erika starts towards the door but Sarah stops her, cupping and lifting her chin with her index finger and thumb before drawing her into a tender kiss.)

Sarah: (softly) Hey…I love you. You know that, right…?

Erika: (smiling shyly, blushing) Yeah, I know. I love you too.

(The two share another kiss before Erika steps out of the bedroom, and as Sarah reaches back for the handle of the door to close it, her jacket slides up to reveal the revolver tucked into her waistband. “Criminal Minds” theme song and opening credits roll.)